Australia Set to Grant A$300 Million in Renewable Energy Funds  

Bloomberg reports that Australian renewable energy grants should be allocated soon, with ocean energy company Carnegie and geothermal energy companies GeoDynamics and Petratherm considered the front-runners - Australia Set to Grant A$300 Million in Renewable Energy Funds .

Australia is close to allocating A$300 million ($270 million) in renewable-energy grants as it seeks to reduce carbon pollution and spur development of clean- power technology. ...

The government’s Renewable Energy Demonstration Program is aimed at sparking the commercial use of emerging ocean, geothermal and other technologies. Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of coal, is pursuing a target of deriving 20 percent of its power from clean energy by 2020.

“Eighteen months ago you would have said this is one of the worst places in the world for renewable energy, full stop,” said Michael Ottaviano, managing director of Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd., one of the companies seeking the grant money. “But I think that’s changing. This program goes a long way to helping new technologies get into the marketplace.”