Australia and Europe will be linking their emissions trading scheme by means of the mutual recognition of carbon units between the two cap and trade systems. To facilitate linking, the Australian Government will not implement the price and a new sublimit will apply to the use of eligible Kyoto units. [ + ]

Ai Group will receive $2.3 million in government funding to establish an apprenticeship adviser network and a further $790,000 for targeted mentoring and assistance to improve apprenticeship retention rates. [ + ]

Ampcontrol has announced its strategic acquisition of Primatec QDA, which it says will boost the company’s innovative technology solutions. [ + ]

Schneider Electric has formed an alliance with SkillsTech Australia, Queensland’s largest trade and technician training TAFE institute, to address Australia’s engineering skills shortage. [ + ]

Winners of the NECA annual electrical industry Excellence Awards and Apprentice of the Year Awards for the ACT were announced on Friday. [ + ]

The TAFE NSW Riverina Institute has been awarded the 2012 Australian Business Award for Environmental Sustainability for adopting a number of energy-efficiency measures. [ + ]

An alleged thief got more than he bargained for on Tuesday night, receiving an electric shock while trying to steal copper cabling from an unoccupied Adelaide factory. [ + ]

As many as one in five energy bills are incorrect, says Energy Action, and with 13% of users being overcharged, it’s worth double-checking for discrepancies. [ + ]

Eaton Corporation has announced the inaugural Australia Data Centre Tech Days, to be held in Sydney on 18 and 19 September. [ + ]

The Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES) has been renamed as the Australian Solar Council. [ + ]

Two electrical engineers have won an award for their paper on an economically feasible way to store solar energy in existing residential power networks. [ + ]

Sydney-based energy efficiency and lighting solutions company enLighten Australia is expanding operations into West Australia and Victoria amid growing private and public sector uptake of LED lighting. [ + ]

Master Electricians Australia has slammed the workplace agreement for the Victorian electrical contracting industry, calling it ‘backwards-looking’ and arguing it will increase red tape. [ + ]

JMC Steel Group has announced that Jim Hays will now manage its electrical portfolio of products manufactured under the Wheatland Tube and Picoma brands. [ + ]

While intelligent building design and the use of smart grids are seen as the way forward for energy efficiency and facilities management, the potential risk of malicious attacks on these systems is frequently overlooked. [ + ]