National Renewable Energy Target Critical to Building a Clean Energy Future

Australia's leading renewable energy company, Pacific Hydro, encourages the Federal Government to pursue the introduction of the 20 per cent National Renewable Energy Target (20 per cent NRET) to ensure investment in clean energy starts immediately and that new zero emissions industries are developed for the future.

"Australia needs to invest in more power generation capacity over the next 10 years, a 20 per cent NRET will help to ensure a large part of that investment occurs in zero emissions energy" said Pacific Hydro General Manager Asia Pacific, Lane Crockett.

"Without a 20 per cent NRET and in the absence of a strong cost on carbon in the next 10 years we will have no choice but to build more fossil fuel power stations which will make the challenge of reducing greenhouse emissions even harder and more expensive in the future."

Pursuing both an emissions trading scheme, which has a relatively low starting price on carbon and a robust framework for deploying zero emissions technology like the 20 per cent NRET, is entirely consistent with what the developed world is doing including most of Europe, parts of Asia and the United States.

"The 20 per cent NRET is about building the new industries of the future." A 20% NRET is a critical element in building clean energy industry capacity so that we have the skills, knowledge and technologies readily available to achieve the deep cuts in emissions that the scientific community is telling us will be required.

Economic modeling shows that the cost of doing this via a 20 per cent NRET will be about $1 per week for the average Australian home in 2020 "Australia has wasted the last 10 years by not pursuing more rigorous climate change policy and we now find ourselves needing to play catch-up with the rest of the world."

"If we are to protect our long-term economic, social and environmental interests the Federal Government must continue with the implementation of a broad range of climate change policies that includes emissions trading and complimentary measures such as the 20 per cent NRET."