Headline front page AUST today (extract): Bowen steps on the gas...

Headline front page AUST today (extract):
Bowen steps on the gas in race to avoid ‘recipe for disaster’
EXCLUSIVE GEOFF CHAMBERS
Chris Bowen says gas will play a key “fallback” role in Australia’s renewables transition, providing a flexible fuel option to help shield the nation from blackouts when coal-fired power stations exit the National Electricity Market.
In an interview for The List: Green Power Players, published by The Australian on Friday, the Climate Change and Energy Minister said shutting off coal and gas overnight and exposing the power grid to blackouts was simply not an option.
Declaring it as “dishonest” to suggest “a whole heap” of new coal-and-gas fired power stations would be built, he cautioned that not having enough dispatchable renewables in place before coal exits was a “recipe for disaster”.
“Gas will play a role in the system for the foreseeable future. Because the one thing about gas, I don’t sort of regard it as a low-emissions fuel or a transition fuel, but I do regard it as is a flexible fuel.
“For the entire grid, having gas there at least as a fallback is pretty important for the foreseeable future.”
Amid calls from the Greens and conservationists to ban fossil fuels, Mr Bowen said gas would be crucial “for peaking and firming with renewables”.
The 50-year-old, described by critics as a clean energy “zealot” and supporters as a climate change champion, has 84 months to slash emissions by 43 per cent and increase the share of renewables in the grid to 82 per cent.
With the Albanese government in a race against time, he concedes achieving Labor’s ambitious targets will be difficult.
Mr Bowen, who views climate change as the great “policy and political challenge of our time”, rejects private sector fears he is moving too quickly and believes Australians are ready for the rapid shift to renewables.…..…..