Innovation Minister, Senator Kim Car announced successful project grants from rounds one and two of the Re-tooling for Climate Change Program.
The $75 million Re-tooling for Climate Change program helps small and medium enterprises reduce their environmental footprint by improving the energy and/or water efficiency of their production processes.
The successful projects from rounds one and two received grants of between $10,000 and $500,000 and support a total investment of $11.8 million.
Reducing reliance on town water through effective water recycling and harnessing the benefits of solar power are two popular initiatives amongst the 23 successful projects to be awarded over $3 million.
"Successful projects from the first two rounds reflect the reality for business in the 21st century — a reality based on a new, greener way of operating," Senator Carr said. "These businesses have not only helped tackle climate change but have put themselves on a more sustainable footing."
Carr said that the government will encourage more businesses to follow this example by broadening the eligibility criteria.
"From today, manufacturers with an entity turnover of less than $100 million (changed from group turnover) will be eligible to apply for assistance under the program," he said. "In the present climate, manufacturers are finding it extremely difficult to find the money needed to upgrade production facilities to reduce energy and water use."
Round three of the program closes on 1 June, Carr said, and the closing dates for rounds four, five, and six will be 24 August 2009, 30 November 2009 and 22 March 2010, respectively.
"A higher assistance rate — at the level of one half the eligible expenditure — will apply to all these rounds including round three."
Re-tooling for Climate Change is part of the Rudd Government’s Clean Business Australia initiative, a $240 million partnership, over four years, between the government and industry for tackling climate change.
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