So happy to have our Community Energy Impact Report out in the world! Better yet, to have community energy groups and my co-authors Kristy Walters and Jonathan Marshall be featured in the The Canberra Times, Sky News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) + more. We surveyed 55 groups, roughly half the Australian community energy sector, about projects they’d been working on in the past 12 months. It's safe to say that this largely volunteer-led sector is punching above their weight, delivering huge social, environmental and economic impacts. Groups have raised $86.8m for community projects, produced over 19,000 MWh of clean energy and avoided 13,947 tCO2-e, the equivalent of removing roughly 7,748 cars for a year 🌱 The best thing about these projects are that they respond to local needs. You have groups like the South Coast Health and Sustainability Alliance who, after the black summer bushfires, installed solar and batteries on community spaces to create bushfire havens - safe places to shelter where the lights stay on during disasters. Or Surf Coast Energy Group who used the costs savings from their solar installation projects to fund sustainability and education initiatives on biodiversity, energy, waste and water. These groups are achieving so much, off their own backs. We've put forward some recommendations in our report, emphasising the need for targeted government support. #communityenergy
We're thrilled to announce the release of our latest report on the collective impact of the Australian community energy sector! 🚀 We surveyed 55 groups, roughly half the Australian community energy sector, about projects they’d been working on in the past 12 months. These groups have delivered some incredible environmental, social and economic impacts, having raised $86.8m for community energy projects, produced over 19,000 MWh of clean energy and their projects have avoided 13,947 tCO2-e, the equivalent of removing roughly 7,748 cars for a year. Despite their achievements, community energy groups face challenges such as a lack of funding, navigating complex regulatory systems and volunteer burnout. There is a critical need for targeted government support to overcome these obstacles and unlock the huge potential of this largely volunteer-led sector. Our report includes a comprehensive list of recommendations. Big thanks to our co-authors Dr Jonathan Marshall, University of Technology Sydney, and Dr Adrian Ford, University of Melbourne and to the amazing groups that participated in our survey. https://lnkd.in/ghXwjY_X
