Environment: Ongoing initiatives
Envirofund
The Envirofund is the local component of the Natural Heritage Trust and provides grants of up to $50,000 each to small projects aimed at conserving biodiversity and sustainable resource use. It helps individuals and community groups take action to solve local problems and to engage more broadly with natural resource management activities. Approximately $20 million is available for grants in each financial year.
Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund
The $500 million Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund is designed to demonstrate break-through technologies with significant long-term greenhouse gas reduction potential in the energy sector. The six projects announced under round one with a total public investment of $410 million are located in the Gorgon fields off Western Australia, Biloela in Central Queensland, Injune in south-west Queensland and Mildura and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.
Renewable Remote Power Generation Programme
The Australian Government is providing $123.5 million over four years from 2007-08 to support the replacement of diesel-powered electricity generation and water pumping systems with renewable energy. The programme supports energy efficiency projects and industry development activities that promote the uptake of renewable energy technologies by rural and remote communities.
Wind forecasting
The Australian Government has provided $14 million over five years from 2004-05 to support the development of a wind forecasting system for Australian conditions. This funding will be used to develop and install systems to provide accurate long range forecasts for wind output, facilitating greater penetration of wind in energy markets and allowing for more strategic planning of new wind farms across Australia.
Replacement of Field Meteorological Offices
The Australian Government has committed $19.8 million over six years from 2005-06 to 2010-11 to help rebuild 12 of the Bureau of Meteorology's 50 field meteorological offices. These field offices, many of which are in rural and regional Australia, are vital components in the Bureau's surface and upper atmosphere observations and service delivery networks. Offices in rural and remote Australia are valuable outlets for information on Bureau services.
Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities
The 2005-06 Budget provided $100 million from 2005-06 to 2009-10 to improve Australia's capacity to understand and respond to priority environment concerns. The Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) programme is supporting environmental research that demonstrates public good outcomes in a range of critical areas, and draws on multiple disciplines, professional partnerships and existing research efforts.
Under this programme, $40 million is being dedicated to specific regional support in North Queensland for a Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility for research relating to the Great Barrier Reef, tropical rainforests and coastal issues. A total of $60 million is allocated through national funding rounds.
Radar Infrastructure Upgrade
The Australian Government has committed $62.2 million over five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08 for the nationwide upgrade of weather radar infrastructure. These operational weather watch radars will enhance detection and warning services to many areas of rural and regional Australia. This funding will provide for six Doppler radars and 15 new weather watch radars.
New Tsunami alert system for Australia
The Australian Government has committed $68.9 million over four years from 2005-06 to 2008-09 to improve tsunami warning services in Australia. Australian Government investment in this project will lead to the development of a comprehensive national tsunami warning system. This initiative will be implemented through the collaborative efforts of the Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia and Emergency Management Australia.