APIA Chief Executive Cheryl Cartwright has said that “While the nation must develop renewable technology, emissions can be reduced sooner rather than later if there was more encouragement to use natural gas for power generation.”

Ms Cartwright said “Natural gas is often described as the ‘transition fuel’ as Australia moves to a low-emissions economy, but gas will be required well into the future as the back-up fuel for renewable energy.

“In fact, if the $A10 billion currently committed to renewable energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) development was committed to building new gas-fired power generation, Australia would reduce carbon emissions by up to 8 per cent. And if the funds were directed towards transferring from coal-fired power generation to natural gas, the cuts in emissions would be greater.”

Ms Cartwright called on the Australian Government and the Opposition to consider the role natural gas could play in meeting emission targets when discussing issues with the Independent Members of Parliament.

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She said it was imperative to the future of the nation that such investment should not be undertaken to the detriment of natural gas.

“Australia has about 300 years’ supply of natural gas. It’s the cleanest burning fossil fuel and it will support renewable energy supplies into the future,” she said.

“It’s critical to ensure that the natural gas industry is encouraged to invest in the required infrastructure so that, in the longer term, natural gas will provide base-load power in support of renewable energies and Australia will meet its emissions targets.”