Community-owned renewable energy (CRE): Opportunities for rural Australia

Abstract

Community-owned renewable energy (CRE) projects are on the rise across the world, including in Australia. This article applies a STEEP (social, technological, environmental, economic, political) analysis to CRE case studies to elucidate the opportunities, benefits and limitations for CRE in the rural Australian context. While CRE is a new sector in Australia, many opportunities exist for it to contribute to addressing climate change, community development and rural economic health. Case studies indicate, however, these benefits will be difficult to realise on a large scale without a supportive state and federal government policy context.