A series of community workshops and an expo to encourage householders to reduce their energy consumption is one of eight initiatives that will benefit from State Government funding.

Energy Minister Peter Collier said about $255,000 would be shared among Western Australian organisations through the Sustainable Energy Development Office (SEDO) grants program.

“This program supports community sustainable energy projects as well as research and development initiatives,” Mr Collier said.

“The community-based projects help householders to reduce fossil fuel energy use, while the research and development based projects assist the expansion of innovative sustainable energy technologies and installations in WA.”

The successful applicants were:

• City of Gosnells ($40,000): A Green Light Schools Fundraiser will be held to provide information and materials to encourage students and their families to save energy
• Denmark Education and Innovation Centre ($30,000): Simple measures householders can take to reduce their energy use will be highlighted through initiatives such as home sustainability audits and advisory workshops
• Green Skills Inc ($29,480): Five community workshops will be held throughout the metropolitan area, coupled with a Home Retrofitting Expo, to encourage householders to use energy in a more sustainable manner
• Perth Diocesan Trustees ($30,200): A pilot program will be developed to assist householders to reduce carbon emissions
• Perth Region NRM ($50,000): Funding will be used to develop sector specific energy management action plans and software tools to identify energy savings
• Pure Engineering ($45,900): The company aims to develop a pre-production prototype of the vertical axis turbine suitable for extended field testing
• Town of Vincent ($25,000): Householders will be encouraged to change their behaviour and increase their knowledge of sustainable living through energy workshops and household audits
• The University of Western Australia ($5,000): The university aims to develop a safer and more energy efficient fuel cell that does not require the storage of hydrogen gas.