Program to help manufacturers tackle climate change

Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, has launched the Rudd government's $75 million Re-tooling for Climate Change grants program.

Re-tooling for Climate Change will offer small and medium-sized manufacturers grants ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 to help them reduce the environmental impact of their production processes.

Grants will meet up to one-third of the costs of projects to improve energy or water efficiency of their production processes. Support will be provided for initiatives such as:

• small-scale cogeneration plants that capture waste energy and use it to produce electricity on site;
• stormwater capture and improved water recycling, for use in the production process;
• improving insulation and recovering waste heat to improve manufacturing process efficiency; and
• process re-engineering involving the adoption of energy-efficient manufacturing tools.

"Over the past week, seminars have been held in capital cities to introduce the program, and I am advised that they have received a very strong response with over 300 people attending," Carr said.

Re-tooling for Climate Change is part of the government's $240 million Clean Business Australia initiative designed to establish a partnership with business and industry to deliver energy- and water-efficient projects with a focus on productivity and innovation.