About $8.5 million is available in the first round of grants.

The government said the fund was a key initiative in the target to cut WA’s 2050 greenhouse gas emissions by 60% below 2000 levels, with low emissions technology a key way to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Successful applicants will be announced in the second quarter of 2008.

Meanwhile, a solar energy expert has said Federal Labor’s pledge for a 20% contribution by renewable energy by 2020 was realistic.

Garry Baverstock, a key speaker at the recent Solar World Congress in China, said if anything, Labor’s vow was considered ‘conservative’ by world standards.

“It is clear that up-to-date information needs to be presented to the Australian public,” Baverstock said.

“The message is that sustainable energy systems are already a reality – not a distant dream.”