Archived News for Green Sector Professionals - February, 2012

The NSW Minister for the Environment Robyn Parker has announced the new membership of the NSW Scientific Committee, the body charged with identifying threatened species and key threatening processes.

The NSW Government has released the Independent Scientific Audit Report into Marine Parks in NSW, and called for submissions in response.

The Queensland and Federal  Governments and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) have signed a new agreement on assessment processes for development along the Queensland coastline and protection and management of the Great Barrier Reef.

Queensland has become the first state to sign up to the newly strengthened regulatory framework for coal seam gas and large coal mining developments.

Federal Minister for Sustainability and Environment Tony Burke has slammed the ‘irresponsible campaigns against Tasmania’s overseas timber market’, saying their efforts are sabotaging local jobs and undermining environmental efforts.

More than twenty years of biological monitoring have confirmed the importance of vegetation for protecting Australia's freshwater streams and rivers against the ravages of drought and climate change.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and RMIT University have made a breakthrough in energy storage and power generation.

The Federal  Government has appointed Ms Chloe Munro, currently the Chair of the National Water Commission,  as the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the new Clean Energy Regulator.

Professor Thomas Maschmeyer, Professor of Chemistry and ARC Future Fellow at the University of Sydney, has been awarded the Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s 2011 Applied Research Medal For his work on catalysis and sustainable processes, including developing methods to create low carbon crude and heavy fuel oil substitutes.

More than 500 applications have been received from universities, land managers, industry and government agencies for the Federal Government's funding program to test and develop new ways for farmers to reduce carbon emissions.

Curtin University researchers have been awarded a $1.4 million grant to independently assess the injection capacity of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) at selected sites, to assist local communities, industry and government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion has announced funding of more than $23million over the next seven years for four conservation projects as part of a $60 million Gorgon Joint Venture conservation package over the next 30 years.

Roofing materials that double as solar panels and can also moderate the temperature of buildings are among the next-generation building products being developed at UNSW.

The Australian and Victorian Governments will collectively provide $100 million towards the development of Victoria’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project - CarbonNet.

CarbonNet is the second project selected for funding under the Australian Government’s Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships program.

The CarbonNet Project aims to capture carbon emissions from power plants, industrial processes and new coal-based industries in the Latrobe Valley and store it in geological basins.

The combined funding of $100 million ($70 million from the Commonwealth and $30 million from the Victorian Government) will support feasibility work as part of the $1 billion plus CarbonNet project to demonstrate low emission brown coal electricity generation in the region.

The Commonwealth Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson said clean energy innovation like this could help power stations cut their emissions while continuing to secure the economic prosperity of the region.

“Investment in CCS is part of the Commonwealth’s suite of support for a range of clean energy technologies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time,” Minister Ferguson said.

“The economic base of the Latrobe valley depends on brown coal and while the Government is committed to cutting CO2 emissions, the last thing we want to do is cut jobs in the process.  Projects like CarbonNet will help shape a new economic future for this critical region.”

The Victorian Department of Primary Industries manages the CarbonNet Project.  The feasibility work will include modelling and testing of potential CO2 storage sites.

In addition to announcing funding for CarbonNet, Minister Ferguson also announced that the Victorian Government has been awarded an offshore tenement for CO2 storage site exploration in the Gippsland Basin. Further, both governments awarded the HRL Dual Gas project a final six-month extension on the previous date of 31 December 2011 to meet the conditions of the respective funding deeds.

More detail on the Flagships program can be found here and the project here

The Federal Government has reportedly struck a deal with the Northern Territory Opposition that could result in the country’s first ever Nuclear Waste Dump likely being constructed in the territory.

Law reform and tougher legal sanctions to stop greenwashing are critical, according to a leading intellectual property expert from The Australian National University.

Four short-listed proponents for Australia’s first large-scale, solar photovoltaic (PV) power station under Round 1 of the Federal Government’s Solar Flagship have been asked to provide updated applications after the preferred applicant, Moree Solar Farm, proposed major changes to its project.

The Australian National Audit Office has released its audit of the Federal Government’s implementation and administration of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme (NGERS).

Research for a recently awarded Charles Sturt University (CSU) PhD thesis has found that understanding how households make decisions about their electricity use could be the key to savings for governments, generators and consumers.

A $425 million proposal for a sugar/ethanol/power generation facility at Ingham in northern Queensland has been given the green light by the Hinchinbrook Shire Council and the Queensland Government.