Do you mean just solar power? That isn’t the only source of renewable energy though it is Australia’s most easily sourced supply of abundant energy. There is wind power, there is geothermal power, there is tidal energy power. What we lack is not the potentially available energy here, it is the needed storage of that energy. Australia’s financial support for fossil fuel energy production far outweighs any support given to renewable energy production support. If we, as Australia, put as much money into renewables and storage (things like batteries and pumped hydro storage) as we give to and that we do not take from fossil fuel industries, fossil fuel would not be a needed energy source or would be reduced to a very minimal need.
Or do you mean in the home being limited to one type of power source and that being electricity?
In the home electrical power is probably the best source for energy use.
Gas has been linked to particulate pollution, this has been linked to asthma, and other respiratory issues. It has also been linked to benzene levels in the home. Benzene is a known carcinogen and in one study the level of benzene from gas burning was above chronic exposure levels.
Wood, kerosene, charcoal, oil and similar heating fuels also produce similar concentrations of, if not the same level, of pollutants
With one burner on high or the oven at 350 degrees, the researchers found benzene levels in a house can be worse than average levels for second-hand tobacco smoke. And they found the toxin doesn’t just stay in the kitchen, it can migrate to other places, such as bedrooms.
The research from which the statement above from an article was presented, is linked below:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c09289
Some interesting excerpts from the study
indoor NO2 from gas stoves can quickly exceed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) 1-h exposure benchmarks in kitchen air. (2,4,18,19) NOx (defined here as NO + NO2) pollution has been shown to harm human health; for instance, a meta-analysis of 41 studies on gas stoves and childhood respiratory health concluded that children who live in homes with gas stoves had a 24% higher risk of lifetime asthma and a 42% increased risk of having asthma currently. (20)Furthermore, a recent population-level analysis concluded that approximately 12% of childhood asthma in the U.S. is attributable to gas stoves.
the formation of NOx, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde from gas combustion in stoves is relatively well-characterized
Benzene exposure causes both cancer and noncancerous health effects. Shorter-term benzene exposure suppresses blood cell production, and chronic benzene exposure increases the risk of leukemias and lymphomas. The carcinogenic effects of benzene exposure follow a linear dose-response curve with no lower threshold, meaning that any additional benzene exposure increases leukemia and lymphoma risk. In contrast, some adverse noncarcinogenic effects, such as the suppression of blood cell production, likely occur only when benzene exposure exceeds a threshold.
The carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic effects of benzene are reflected in current benzene exposure benchmarks. These benchmarks generally fall between 2.0 μg/m3 (∼0.63 ppbv), established in France, and 5.0 μg/m3 (∼1.6 ppbv), the most common global benchmark adopted by the European Union, India, South Korea, and other jurisdictions. The World Health Organization, however, concluded that for cancer effects, “there is no known exposure threshold for the risks of benzene exposure” and that “it is expedient to reduce indoor exposure levels to as low as possible”.
By measuring benzene concentrations in bedrooms during and after gas burner and oven use, we also showed that benzene produced from gas stoves migrates well beyond the kitchen. People outside the kitchen can be exposed to elevated levels of benzene for hours after the stove is turned off
Perhaps the question should be, why do we continue to rely on outmoded and dangerous to human health energy sources such as for used for heating and cooking?
As to PRRT, Woodside has this to say
The North West Shelf, which produces more than 40 per cent of Australia’s oil and gas, was exempt from the 40 per cent PRRT and operated under its own tax regime.
Woodside owns about one-sixth of the project, and other joint venture partners include BHP, BP, Chevron Australia, Japan Australia LNG and Shell.
In a statement, Woodside said it expected the tax arrangements at the project to “essentially remain unchanged”.
“While the North West Shelf Venture will move to PRRT, Woodside expects this regime to be no more onerous than the royalties and excise regime under which the facilities currently operate,” the company said.
“A key feature of the transition arrangements for the North West Shelf Venture will be the right to use the market value as the starting base for project assets, including oil and gas rights.”
So new tax arrangement will not be more onerous than not paying PRRT on 40% of Australian gas and oil production. Nothing changes in reality.
