The primary use for natural gas in Australia is electricity generation, making up nearly a third of Australia’s total electricity production which also includes brown and black coal. Other uses for gas are in manufacturing, mining, and ‘other’ which includes transport, commercial and services, residential, agriculture and construction. About one quarter of Australia’s primary energy consumption is from natural gas.
The Longford gas conditioning plant of the Kipper and Turrum Bass Strait gas fields. Image: ExxonMobil Australia
How Australians use gas, and how much, varies greatly depending on where they live. Gas powers over 18 million residential appliances for cooking, heating and hot water in homes. Around 65 per cent of Australian households rely on gas of some sort; about 15 per cent use bottled liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The remaining 50 per cent of all Australian homes have a direct connection to the natural gas network. However, just five per cent of Tasmanian homes and 10 per cent of Queensland homes have a connection to the gas network. On the other hand, 76, 73 and 68 per cent of households in Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia respectively have gas connections.
Australian homes use about 3% of all gas produced in Australia, or around 15% of domestic gas use, excluding exports. Gas cooktops are commonplace across many states in Australia but only comprise around 4-6% of household gas use. Water heating uses about 24%, while heating/cooling is around 40%. Gas is the most common way to provide domestic hot water across Victoria, WA, SA, and the ACT.
Close to 80% of the gas Australia produces is exported or used to process Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for export. Australia is now one of the world’s largest exporters of gas, and is the highest exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is helping drive global emissions higher. Australian gas consumers now face the export price of gas which is making it much more expensive than was the case traditionally.
