The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, has announced more than $8 million in grants for two renewable energy projects from the Australian government’s Renewable Energy Development Initiative.

The Butt Littering Trust has consolidated its role as Australia’s leading protagonist in the fight against butt littering with the appointment of its first full-time executive director.

BioVision 2020 has signed an agreement with Mindarie Regional Council (MRC) to build an $80 million waste processing plant in Perth’s northern suburbs.

Australian environment and sustainability conference Enviro 08 will take place in Melbourne 5–7 May, with a conference theme of ‘Facing the Challenge’. It is expected to attract over 6000 delegates and visitors to the conference and exhibition.

An independent national survey has found the recycling rate for plastics packaging has equalled last year's record result and continues to meet environmental improvement commitments.

In a ground-breaking move that will reverberate to Australia, President Bush has signed the energy bill which requires a five-fold increase in the use of transport fuels — most of which will be ethanol.

Nominations for the National and International Thiess Riverprizes, worth a total of $300,000, close March 30.

Environment Minister Trevor Mallard intends to call in two renewable energy development proposals under the Resource Management Act.

Michael Pritchard has introduced the Lifesaver container, a plastic bottle that claims to instantly clean the dirtiest water, making it safe to drink.

Across Australia, the number of people in cities who think the water situation is ‘very serious’ has dropped by more than 7% in the last year, going from 44.1% in 2006 to 36.7% in 2007.

In an Australia-wide push to address the demand for a larger power engineering skill base, Curtin University of Technology will receive over $150,000 from the Australian Power Institute (API) in 2007-2008 to fund projects and bursaries for top engineering students.

Funding is now available for water- and energy-savings projects in public or education facilities through the NSW government’s Climate Change Fund.

Peter Garrett has confirmed that he will move to phase out plastic check-out bags “by the end of the year” — if necessary with a legislative ban. The move follows an announcement by the Chinese government that it will ban the giving away of free plastic bags by June.

Premier Morris Iemma announced the NSW government will invest $70 million on two programs to reduce water and energy consumption, and drive down greenhouse gas emissions.

A report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights the necessity of reducing emissions and provides strong endorsement of wood’s environmental credentials.