Push for gas cooktops and heaters to be banned so Australia can meet its climate change targets

Gas hobs and heaters could be banned ‘well before 2050’, allowing Australia to meet its net-zero climate change targets at the suggestion of a prominent think tank.

The Grattan Institute has suggested that state and territory governments ban new natural gas connections to homes, stores and small businesses — which would particularly hinder restaurants.

The report by Tony Wood, Alison Reeve and Esther Suckling said Australia would fall short of its net-zero target by 2050 unless gas appliances were replaced by electric appliances powered by renewable energy.

“Governments need to step in and accelerate towards an all-electric residential sector,” their report said.

‘The first step is to set a phase-out date for gas and to ban new gas connections to homes.’

It comes as a prominent Teal Independent MP called for the country to “get off the gas.”

Allegra Spender, the MP representing the ultra-wealthy electorate of Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, supported the Grattan Institute’s report but did not call for a ban on gas appliances or hobs any time soon.

Australia needs to get off gas. Fully electric houses are cheaper to run, better for our health and reduce emissions. But wishful thinking won’t get us there. The federal government must show much more courage and ambition. Important blueprint for reform by @GrattanInst,” she tweeted.

The Grattan Institute is also called upon the phasing out of sales of gas appliances ‘well before 2050’, arguing that the last remaining gas appliances should be replaced by electric ones when they reach the end of their life.

It also refuted the idea that natural gas was a “transitional fuel” between closer to coal-fired power stations and the move to renewable energy from solar and wind.

‘That vision is becoming increasingly superfluous’, according to the think tank.

“Coal power stations will not be replaced by gas when they retire.”

The Grattan Institute recognized that many households would struggle to replace gas-powered appliances electric hobs, home heaters and water heaters because they ‘often cost more to buy than the gas equivalents’.

The think tank – funded in part by the federal and Victorian governments – advised taxpayers to fund upgrades to social, community and Indigenous housing, and provide low-interest loans or similar financing arrangements for homeowners, and tax breaks for landlords.

It also called on state governments to enforce bans on gas appliances in rental properties and to make public housing energy all-electric.

“Set minimum rental standards, including ceiling insulation and all-electric appliances,” it said.

The Grattan Institute’s drive to phase out natural gas reflects a campaign by the Greens.

The small party in Victoria wants a ban on gas connections to homes by 2025.

Like renewable energy advocate and engineer Saul Griffith, the Grattan Institute has made a link between gas appliances and childhood asthma.

The report mentioned vacated gas stoves nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and small particles called PM2.5.

“These particles irritate the lungs, especially in children whose lungs are still developing,” it says.

The Climate Council has also called on state governments to phase out natural gas connections in new housing developments and allow local governments to ban it in these locations.

Both sides of Australia’s politics have committed to a net zero target for 2050, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party, backed by the Greens, has legislated a 43 percent reduction by 2030.