The fuel crisis has raised awareness everywhere about the benefits of renewables, energy efficiency and electrification. The spotlight is welcomed, but the community work remains largely invisible – to both the general public and our leaders.
This is no longer the case in the UK. The Local Power Plan allocates £1bn and aspires to the opportunity to own a local energy project for every community! The evidence base is comprehensively documented with a commitment to ongoing research. In the valuing community energy webinar last week, Caroline Bird highlighted the potential community benefits with commercial ownership (~$1,000/MW), co-ownership (~$40,000/MW) and community ownership (~$300,000/MW) delivering local benefits of completely different orders of magnitude.
AEMO’s quarterly update provides the evidence that renewables are mitigating our experience of the fuel crisis while the Vampire Index for cities reminds us that the impact is experienced disproportionately by those who can least afford it.
Our work is needed as much as ever.
Image Credit: Photo of the long awaited Goulburn Solar Farm launch, from the ABC website
