Project Aims: Over the course of my Laidlaw Leadership in Action project I will be working on a renewable energy project in Australia. The project will aim to improve the level of information on renewable energy available to different groups. Over my time in Australia, I hope to develop a much more comprehensive understanding of the existing circumstances around energy insecurity and renewable energy in Australia. I hope that through my project, I will be able to contribute to those making an effort to improve the current situation. Furthermore, I hope to also take the time to learn about myself. My project will be fully independent, working solely with my mentor, which will allow me to obtain a better understanding of myself and how I work and develop as a leader of myself.

I have been in Australia working with 2 companies on different renewable energy projects. The first project consists of work to help deliver easy access to information around renewable technologies to allow members of different communities to transition to renewable homes and lifestyles. This project has involved research into these renewable technologies, as well as the generation of adaptive forms of information using the R-coding language. This information responds to user inputs, allowing users to tailor their renewable energy plans to their existing circumstances, making it easier for everyone to improve their renewable energy usage. Alongside this, I have also begun a project on researching differing prepayment meter technologies, aiming to develop a comparison between Australia and the rest of the world. The bulk of the research is about to start, but I was fortunate enough to accompany some members of the Original Power team to the indigenous community of Borroloola to obtain a deeper understanding of the energy insecurity in the rural indigenous communities, particularly through prepayment meters. This was a fascinating opportunity to not only explore many of the issues that these communities face, but also to look at one of the solutions being implemented – Original Power is working with the community to develop a community owned solar farm, which will provide a significant benefit to the community and reduce their energy insecurity. This was an incredible experience and I was truly grateful to be given the opportunity to visit the community. It was truly moving to hear about the community’s experiences and difficulties with receiving fair and equitable energy, renewable and otherwise, and the lack of beneficial effort being made to retroactively mend damage caused previously. Not only did this provide a large amount of context for my projects, but it also gave me the opportunity to consider my own way of life in contrast to such a different lifestyle.

What next? Over the remaining weeks of my project, I will continue to develop the project that is focused on improving the ease of access to information about renewable technologies for communities across Australia. At the same time, I will more formally begin my research into prepayment meters and hope to share my findings with those working with Original Power on prepayment meters. Looking forward to another 3 weeks!