24 September 2007Gemma Daley
Prime Minister John Howard set a target for 15 percent of Australia's energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, in a bid to woo voters ahead of an election before early December.
The energy would come from solar, wind or clean coal, Howard said. The target is 30,000 gigawatt hours each year, or about 15 percent of Australia's current annual total.
``This is part of the government's comprehensive climate change strategy,'' Howard said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg. ``It will drive additional investment in renewable energy and other low emissions electricity generation.''
Howard, 68, is betting on his climate change policies to help reverse a decline in polls ahead of the election. Howard has trailed the opposition labor Party since it elected Kevin Rudd leader in December. Labor held a 10-point lead in a Newspoll published Sept. 18.
Australia will develop nuclear energy and adopt a carbon- emissions system if Howard wins the election. Howard has also banned incandescent light bulbs and pledged A$200 million ($173 million) to reduce forest clearing in Asia.
Rudd, 50, was preferred over Howard by 48 percent of voters in the Newspoll survey. He has pledged to sign the Kyoto Protocol, the only international treaty to set specific targets for emission reductions, binding 35 nations to curb carbon emissions by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. The U.S. and Australia have refused to ratify the accord.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at [email protected]
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=auKANi1jXC64&refer=australia#
