The Gillard Government will invest $66.4 million in the environment, sustainable agriculture and natural resource management projects under a new round of Country for our Country funding. Environment Minister, Tony Burke, Minister for Agriculture, Senator Joe Ludwig, and Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Dr Mike Kelly, today announced base-level funding across 22 regional natural resource management [...]

The crop of genetically modified wheat destroyed by Greenpeace activists in Canberra today was rated by the federal government regulator of genetically modified organisms as posing a “negligible” risk to either people or the environment. This is in contrast to Greenpeace’s claims that the crop consisted of “untested and potentially unstable GM organisms”. The crop [...]

Recently, renowned infographic designer David McCandless of the blog Information Is Beautiful created a visual guide to eco-friendlier fish consumption, called, simply, “Which Fish Are Okay to Eat?” Based on data from the Marine Conservation Society, Greenpeace and the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, McCandless’s guide  divides commonly eaten seafood into three categories that answer the title’s [...]

Virgin Australia today announced that it has partnered with Renewable Oil Corporation (ROC), Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation (DYMTF) and Future Farm Industries Co-operative Research Centre (FFI CRC) to develop a sustainable aviation biofuel that also has benefits for the Australian farming community and the environment. In a world first, the consortium plans to use innovative [...]

A CHEF by trade and a country kid at heart, Jordan Grasser lasted about five seconds in the city. But it was his time in Melbourne’s food industry, working in kitchens where phrases such as “sustainable”, “organic”, “genetically-modified free” and “free range” were commonplace, that helped shape the ethos behind Grasser Farms. AT A GLANCE [...]

A joint venture between US-based ConocoPhillips and Karoon Gas Australia has received the necessary federal government approvals to begin a drilling campaign in three blocks in the Browse Basin, with a view to firming up sufficient gas reserves to pursue an LNG project, Karoon said Monday. The go-ahead was given by the Australian government’s Department [...]

The residents of Hendry Street Tewantin are behind one of the most sustainable streets in the country. And it just got greener after winning its share of a $1m prize pool of efficient goodies thanks to Origin Energy. Hendry Street Tewantin beat 1,569 entries state-wide to become Origin Energy’s first Sustainability Drive winner for Queensland [...]

CORANGAMITE MP Darren Cheeseman has described the renewable energy industry as the south-west’s most important jobs and investment driver. His comments follow a new investment statement from Union Fenosa Wind Australia that reveals the company is planning to spend $1.78 billion on local wind farms. Its projects are tipped to create 650 construction jobs and [...]

Volcanic ash clouds might not be all bad and there is even some comparatively good news in the study of rising sea levels. Both issues will be up for discussion in the coming week at the 25th general assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) which opens on Wednesday in Melbourne. Discussion [...]

WESTERN Downs Mayor Ray Brown says a $1.2 billion solar project announced at the weekend consolidated the region as “the energy capital of Australia”. The Federal Government has revealed Chinchilla will be the site of the 250 megawatt Solar Dawn solar power plant. It was one of two world-scale projects, along with the Moree Solar Farm, [...]