Professor Christopher Saint will discuss cutting-edge research on the future of Australia’s water supply at a public lecture on Tuesday 17 April. [ + ]

Australia’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) power project reached a major construction milestone yesterday as contractor and technology provider First Solar joined owners Verve Energy and GE unit GE Energy Financial Services to mark the commencement of panel installation at the Greenough River Solar Farm. [ + ]

Australia has moved one step closer to a clean energy future since the Clean Energy Regulator commenced operations on 2 April. [ + ]

The Australian Government and the European Union (EU) have, during bilateral talks in Brussels, confirmed their strong commitment to working towards linking their Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS). [ + ]

Draft regulations to support the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) were released for consultation yesterday by the government. [ + ]

A publication released by AusIndustry will help businesses understand the registration requirements for the R&D Tax Incentive. The publication outlines what information will be required when businesses commence registering for the incentive from 1 July 2012 and provides additional explanatory materials to help businesses complete their applications. [ + ]

Nine-storey cranes and 28 m-high ring structures in native bushland that can produce the elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations predicted for later this century are among the state-of-the-art research facilities officially opened today by Senator Chris Evans at the University of Western Sydney’s Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment. [ + ]

GE Energy announced yesterday the appointment of John Anderson as Senior Regional Executive for Australia, New Zealand (ANZ) and Papua New Guinea (PNG). [ + ]

Industrial waste emissions innovator MBD Energy has welcomed the Australian Government’s announcement of a $5 million grant to James Cook University (JCU) to help develop a macroalgae to biocrude oil project. [ + ]

The Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute has formed a partnership with multinational services firm Arup to deliver collaborative research in the area of sustainable development. [ + ]

The CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), Romilly Madew, has been elected onto the Board of Directors of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC). [ + ]

Adelaide companies Carbon Business and EconSearch have collaborated on EcoScore, a tool to quantify hidden Scope 3 emissions using economic modelling. [ + ]

The New Zealand Clean Energy Centre has been investigating the feasibility of an off grid housing community in Taupo. Homes would be heated either via geothermal or biomass. Electricity would be supplied via solar and wind. Wastewater would be drip irrigated to energy crops which provide future fuel for the community. Water would be supplied via rainwater collection. [ + ]

The University of Wollongong and BlueScope Steel have joined forces with Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, one of the world’s leading renewable energy and sustainable building research organisations, in a new solar technology research and demonstration project with the support of $477,000 from the Australian Solar Institute. [ + ]

This week, CSIRO will release its latest findings to the government on carbon dioxide capture technology, following a four-year $21 million research program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Australian coal-fired power stations. [ + ]