Quebec's Liberal government said on April 7 it wants to reduce the quantity of petroleum products consumed in the Canadian province by 40% by 2030 as part of its long-term energy strategy.

Renewable energy currently supplies about 47% of Quebec's needs, an amount the province intends to boost to 61% by 2030, as part of a series of targets to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, Energy Minister Pierre Arcand told journalists in Montreal.

"What we are proposing to Quebecers is a new energy pact," Arcand said.

Quebec, the fourth-largest hydroelectric producer in the world, has pledged to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 37.5% by 2030.

Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel called the greenhouse-gas emissions target the most "ambitious in Canada and one of the most ambitious in the world."

The province has set additional targets of boosting its production of renewable energy by 25% and bioenergy by 50%. Quebec also wants to improve its energy efficiency by 15%.