The Australian Government wants 82 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. But what do local people want on the pathway to that target?

A University of Wollongong (UOW) survey of about 70 people at last Sunday’s Yes2Renewables family fun day found that top of the list was support for household electrification and reducing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process.  

“Surveys aren't always easy to get people to participate in, so I’m super happy with that outcome,” said Associate Professor Michelle Voyer, a marine social scientist at UOW. 

Volunteers from local groups – such as Electrify 2515, Good for the Gong and Surfers for Climate – shared information about renewables at Sunday’s fun day, held from 11am-1pm in Osborne Park at Wollongong Harbour. As well as speeches by the likes of Rewiring Australia’s Dr Saul Griffith, event goers enjoyed free ice-cream, renewable art installations and live music. It was a crowd largely supportive of renewables.  

“Of course, that was only one side of the debate we got on Sunday, but I think the response was good,” Michelle said. “It was just dipping the toe in the water – what does the conversation look like if we do it a bit differently?

“We're in this situation at the moment where we've got people arguing over support or opposition [to wind farms]. 

“We don't need to decide yet – we've got five to seven years of research to be done. 

“So what we were really interested in doing was shifting the conversation away from that binary choice and getting a sense from community as to what they would like to see considered over these next five to seven years of planning and design and environmental approvals.”

Michelle is a spokesperson for UOW’s Blue Energy Futures Lab, an informal group of about 30 academics from diverse fields who’ve come together to share information with the public.  

“We are interested in exploring this idea of what are the pathways through the conflict. What are the pathways that bring people together?” she said.

“Even though it feels really awful right now, this [conflict] could be a good thing for our community, if we can find a way to come together and discuss what our differences are.” 

On Sunday, the UOW team displayed a QR code linking to a short survey titled “Understanding community aspirations for environmental and social components of renewable energy in the Illawarra”. 

The survey looked at renewables in general via two components. First, people were asked to rate the importance of examples of environmentally sensitive approaches being used in other countries. Then they were asked to think about community benefit schemes and what these should focus on. 

Michelle said it was a chance for people to say, from a practical perspective, what they’d like to see happen in the Illawarra’s energy transition.

For Sunday’s participants, the no. 1 environmental consideration was reducing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process. 

“This would be things like green steel production,” Michelle said. 

“The second was maximising recycled and reusable components within the infrastructure. The third top one was employing best practice design principles to minimise impacts on wildlife. So that's using things like sensing technologies, for example, or experimenting with colour and lighting to minimise any impacts on birds or other species. 

“In the community benefit sharing arrangements, household electrification came out on top, so people wanting to see support for households and residents across the region to move towards electrification, including through solar installation for residents. 

“Second was support for First Nation communities and third was education and training. Interestingly, the bottom in that one was support for sporting organisations, which is normally where a lot of energy goes in community benefit sharing arrangements.”

Heartened by survey results, the scientists are hoping that conflict over the Illawarra’s offshore wind zone could end up being a positive force for shaping change.

Michelle said the UOW researchers would like to do more research and target a broader cross-section of the community but the high cost of a representative survey is a problem. 

"We are exploring opportunities for funding this future work."