SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Australian government on Tuesday will commit A$178 million ($132 million) in new funding to ramp up the rollout of hydrogen refuelling and charging stations for electric vehicles, weeks after adopting a net zero emissions target by 2050.
The strategy will help lower emissions by over 8 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2035, put 1.7 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2030 and avoid A$224 million of electricity network upgrade costs, the government said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the strategy provides “an Australian way” to lower emissions with no taxes and aims to drive down the cost of adopting new technologies.
“We will not be forcing Australians out of the car they want to drive or penalising those who can least afford it through bans or taxes. Instead, the strategy will work to drive down the cost of low and zero emission vehicles,” Morrison said in a statement.
Morrison did not specify whether his government would provide subsidies to spur faster growth of cleaner cars, like some other developed countries.
Australia in February said it expects one in four cars sold in the country will be electric vehicles by 2030 and would take steps to ensure they do not strain the country’s power grid.
Australia, one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases on a per capita basis, on Oct. 26 pledged it would adopt net zero emissions target by 2050, just days ahead of the United Nations climate summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow, easing global criticism.
($1 = 1.3517 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Renju Jose)
