All three country independents – Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter – have stressed the need for a bigger focus on renewable power, as has newly elected Greens MP Adam Bandt. Mr Bandt and Mr Oakeshott believe this should be pursued in conjunction with the introduction of a carbon price.

"The countries and the economies that are going to do well in the 21st century are the countries that lead the world in renewable energy technologies," Mr Bandt said last Wednesday. But Mr Katter, and to some extent Mr Windsor, see renewable energy as an alternative to emissions trading and a chance to cut emissions while providing benefits to regional areas.

Clean Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said it was unsurprising that MPs from regional areas supported renewable energy, as developments such as wind farms could provide farmers with drought-proof income, the The Australian Financial Review reports.

"It makes sense for people interested in the development of regional Australia to support renewables because that's where most of the investment and jobs are going to go," he said.

The government's mandatory renewable energy target (MRET) commits Australia to ensuring that 20 per cent of its power comes from renewables by 2020. Even so, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said last year that, in the absence of an emissions trading scheme, Australia's emissions were still projected to be 20 per cent higher in 2020 than they were in 2000.