In a bid to overcome barriers to, and increase the use of, renewable energy, Resources and Energy Minister Gary Gray has launched a $60 million initiative to share information, data and lessons learnt by the renewable energy industry. [ + ]

New Zealand Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges has launched NABERSNZ, an energy-rating scheme which aims to transform the way office buildings use energy. [ + ]

Canon Oceania is calling for applicants for its annual environmental grants program, offering grants, in kind, worth a total of $45,000 to Australian and New Zealand organisations dedicated to making a positive impact on their environment and the community. [ + ]

Electricity use in the City of Sydney’s buildings has been dropping significantly, with new figures revealing savings of as much as 50% from power and water efficiency retrofits. [ + ]

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has launched the Regional Australia’s Renewables (RAR) program to fund renewable energy projects and cut diesel use in remote communities. [ + ]

Queensland water utility Unitywater has announced an initial contract with software experts TaKaDu. The contract will provide Unitywater with a smart water network monitoring service designed to find hidden leaks and identify service abnormalities. [ + ]

Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change Ryan Smith has called for entries to the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2013. [ + ]

Twenty-five lucky solar researchers will have the opportunity to pursue their own research investigations to help make solar technologies cheaper and more accessible to consumers with funding from the Australian Government. [ + ]

CSIRO Chairman Simon McKeon has announced (2 June) that Chief Executive Dr Megan Clark has agreed to extend her term with CSIRO to the end of 2014. [ + ]

A report by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) reveals that Green Star-rated buildings emit around a third of the greenhouse gas emissions and use a third of the electricity when compared with the average Australian building. [ + ]

A three-year Massey University study has confirmed findings that a significant amount of carbon dioxide is lost into the atmosphere through conventional tillage. [ + ]

Water efficiency, food security and environmental sustainability will be the focus of a new joint research centre between Australia and China which has been officially launched in Beijing. [ + ]

CSIRO today launched the Future Grid Cluster, which will deliver the first analytical framework to identify low-cost pathways to integrating renewable energy sources and technologies into Australia’s electricity grid. [ + ]

Australia’s National Food Plan, launched on 25 May, has been described by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Joe Ludwig, as a “road map for Australia’s food future”. But Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) claims the plan still ignores the threat posed to agriculture by climate change. [ + ]

Community- and council-funded irrigation and water projects dominate the roll call of finalists of the Engineers Australia Sydney Division Excellence Awards 2013. [ + ]