Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet, Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson and Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Kim Carr today outlined new initiatives to support innovation in clean and renewable energy.
Together with a price on carbon pollution and the Gillard Government's expanded 20 per cent by 2020 Renewable Energy Target, the three new measures will create economic incentives for businesses to invest in low and zero emissions innovation.
The measures include:
- a $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation
- an Australian Renewable Energy Agency to manage $3.2 billion in funding
- a $200 million Clean Technology Innovation Program.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will invest $10 billion in businesses seeking funds to get innovative clean energy proposals and technologies off the ground.
It will also invest in the transformation of existing manufacturing businesses to re-focus on meeting demand for inputs for these sectors, for example, manufacturing wind turbine blades and solar photo voltaic panels.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will independently administer $3.2 billion in existing Federal Government grants for research and development into renewable energy technologies and initiatives to bring them to market.
The Clean Technology Innovation Program will provide $200 million in grants to support business investment in renewable energy, low emissions technology and energy efficiency. This could support manufacturers to develop new clean technology products.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will be part of the Treasury or Finance and Deregulation Portfolio.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will be part of the Resources, Energy and Tourism portfolio.
The Clean Technology Innovation Program will be administered by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
Further information about the Government's clean energy future and carbon price announcement is available at www.cleanenergyfuture.gov.au.