We’re no financial experts, and frankly can’t judge how long the economy will be down or how much the Budget will shorten the recession by, but we have reviewed the Budget for it’s greenness and here’s what we found…

1.The Initiative comprises three new elements:

• a $2.0 billion investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects under a CCS Flagships program
• a $1.5 billion Solar Flagships program to demonstrate large‑scale solar technologies

2. $2 billion over 9 years towards projects that will deal with carbon dioxide collection and storage.

3. A $100 million grant in 2009‑10, which will create an energy network in one demonstration project that integrates a smart grid with smart meters in homes.

4. Establishing a new renewable technology innovation body — Renewables Australia — with an initial funding allocation of $465 million over four years.

5. Introducing a new Solar Flagships program with funding of $1.5 billion over six years that will invest in large‑scale solar electricity generation projects. Through the development of up to four major projects the program will demonstrate solar at a capacity of 1,000 MW, which is similar in scale to that of a large coal‑fired power station.

So there is certainly some green spending in the plans, but nothing for water conservation unfortunately.