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. [ + ]

The AWA (Australian Water Association) QLD Water Awards are now open for nomination. The AWA Awards are an annual program to celebrate and promote the outstanding work achieved by individuals and organisations in the water sector. [ + ]

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. [ + ]

ETSA Utilities has been announced as the first electricity distributor in Australia to become a Signatory in the federal government’s FluoroCycle scheme, which aims to increase recycling of mercury-containing street lamps and reduce the amount of mercury entering the environment. [ + ]

The number of ‘dead’ and obsolete televisions and computers dumped on Australian kerbsides is set to drop from July 2012, thanks to the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme. [ + ]

Australia’s leading green building organisation, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), has applauded the launch of the new ‘Make My City Work’ campaign. [ + ]