A new national research and development facility launched in Perth last week will play a critical role in reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by answering the key questions surrounding the storage of commercial-scale carbon dioxide (CO₂). [ + ]

IKEA is supporting the LED light revolution by converting its full lighting range to LED by 2016 - meaning IKEA will be selling only LED bulbs and LED lamps. [ + ]

The Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, last week met China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Chairman, Xie Zhenhua, to discuss action on climate change. [ + ]

IHG (InterContinental Hotel Groups) is the first hotel company in Australia to build an electric car charge network, connecting eight properties across the group with cutting-edge technology for a new and growing customer segment. [ + ]

Melbourne-based LED lighting company Brightgreen took out the top honour - the Premier’s Recognition Award - at the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2012 on Tuesday night. The lighting design company was recognised for developing the DR700 LED replacement light bulb, which is claimed to reduce power costs by up to 80%. [ + ]

The 2012 Photovoltaics Status Report, published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, summarises and evaluates the current activities regarding manufacturing, policies and market implementation worldwide. [ + ]

A guidebook on school and community learning partnerships for sustainability, Conversations on School - Community Learning Partnerships for Sustainability (A Guidebook), was launched in Melbourne this morning. [ + ]

The Smart Water Fund has announced that it will make available $1 million in funding to support innovative urban water projects. This will be the fund’s 10th round of funding, with applications opening in mid-October. [ + ]

A new study led by Empa gives an up-to-date picture of the ecobalance of various biofuels and their production processes. The study claims that only a few biofuels are overall more environmentally friendly than petrol. [ + ]

Power and automation technology group ABB has been selected as one of the finalists in the 2012 Banksia Environmental Awards in the Clean Technology - Harnessing Opportunities category for its sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) gas recycling technology. [ + ]

Budding filmmakers have the chance to do something about the global problem of food waste - now totalling 1.2 million tonnes a year in NSW alone, and valued at $2.5 billion. [ + ]

At the PlastixANZ Plastic Industry Awards in Melbourne on 12 September, Tapex was recognised by the industry for its environmental leadership with the Plasback program, winning the Steinert 2012 Environment Achievement Award. [ + ]

A new Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) will work with more than 70 research, industry and government partners to find new and better ways to use and re-use Australia’s scarce water resources. [ + ]

The results of Australia’s groundbreaking Solar Cities projects are set to be revealed as each of the project leaders prepares to meet and share their learnings with industry leaders at the Solar Cities 2012 conference. [ + ]

Adelaide Airport Limited (AAL) has entered into a three-year partnership with the Centre for Energy Technology (CET) at the University of Adelaide to provide valuable research support and help develop innovative clean energy solutions. [ + ]