Australia can meet emission reduction targets with or without renewable energy, a spokesperson from the natural gas industry said.

"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," Cheryl Cartwright, Chief Executive of the Australian Pipeline Industry Association, 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 a back-up fuel for renewable energy," she said.

"In fact, if the $10 billion currently committed to renewable energy and 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.

"As well as providing emissions reduction in the short term, this investment in natural gas would continue to be beneficial for decades as a complement to renewable energy."

Ms Cartwright called on the Government and Opposition to consider natural gas in their deliberations with the Independent Members of Parliament.

She said the while the gas industry agrees that there should be investment in renewable energy technology, 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.

"A Renewable Energy Target of 20 per cent will certainly assist the renewable energy industries, but there is a danger that the cost of meeting this target will slow the change from coal to gas by power generators.

"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."