Renewable Energy Student Survey

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses on the survey, more people responded than I thought! It really shows how much the Clifton Hill community cares about each other. With the results, I found that the majority of you don’t have renewable energy because of the costs or that you just don’t know where or how to get renewable energy. These problems are big issues amongst energy plans, and it is true that renewable energy is nowhere near easy to understand. 

Some of you said that you always buy/use 100% ‘green’ renewable energy. My question is what does ‘green’ mean? What I am trying to know is if people are aware of what their supposedly ‘green’ energy is. Hundreds of companies say that they supply green energy, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it is 100% green energy, so I advise you to look into your energy supplier, as someday it could save the planet.

Another step of this project was contacting some big energy companies to see how they get you your energy. I got responses from Power Shop and Diamond Energy but I think this response from Origin has proved most useful. I have inserted the letter here...

 Thanks for your letter, your project sounds very interesting and I agree we should all be more aware of where our energy comes from and the impact on the environment. You are right in that most of Australia’s energy comes from coal, but the good news is that this is changing with renewable energy playing a greater role as costs fall and some of the old coal generators retire. Managing this transition is not easy and is one of the biggest challenges facing the energy sector. Coal and gas generators are still needed to ensure there is enough power to keep the lights on, as some renewables are dependent on the weather (e.g. sunshine and wind) and are therefore unable to provide a constant supply of energy.  But the sector is actively working on rolling out solutions such as battery storage which will allow for renewable energy to be stored and used when it is needed.

Origin is committed to a low carbon future and we support a national goal of net zero emissions in the electricity sector by 2050, we also plan to have more than 25 percent of the energy that we own or purchase, coming from renewables and storage.   

While there can be some environmental impact due to the production of solar panels, the process continues to improve and the efficiency of the panels have increased. Importantly, solar power displaces high carbon energy sources such as coal, which helps to lower emissions and is a positive for the environment.

Regarding geothermal, Origin was previously part of a joint venture that  devoted a great deal of time, effort, and resources in trying to develop geothermal energy in Australia. Unfortunately, the project faced many technical and economic issues and was unable to produce energy on a commercial scale. While geothermal is a good source of renewable energy and is significant part of the energy mix in countries such as New Zealand, the difference in geology in Australia makes it more difficult to produce geothermal energy here. This could change as technological improvements are made.

Good luck with your project, and I hope this helps. Please feel free to get in touch if any of the above isn’t clear, or if you have more questions.

This letter really informed me about the issues that Origin is working towards fixing, and I hope it helped you too. 

I have also created a website, to get more people to try to understand the impacts of different energy sources.

Scan the QR code to learn more:

Thanks once again for your incredible support, you have really given me the opportunity to thrive and create a project that is worthwhile.

Jasmine - 5SM