A new report by the Climate Institute and General Electric says that by pouring more investment into energy efficiency, the country could add billions to the economy by 2030.
The report said that an improvement of as little as one per cent could as much as $26 billion to the Australian economy in the next 17 years, and generate an additional $8 billion as soon as 2020.
"This is an important contribution to improving Australia's productivity as well as cutting our energy bills and carbon pollution," said Climate Institute chief executive John Connor.
“Our research puts a figure on just how much we are missing out on. The reality is that our current policies are inadequate to address the barriers preventing smarter energy use.”
The report added that the proposals to focus on energy efficiency would provide the two per cent lift to productivity that the country needs.
