What does an environmentally successful energy transition look like in the Townsville region? This is the question we sought to answer through Mapping Our Energy Future, harnessing local knowledge and expertise to develop community-led guidelines for our local energy transition. This blog post contains a full rundown of the project, which we hope you'll enjoy - but you can also check out our key recommendations at a glance.

Renewable energy developers are required to engage with Traditional Owners, but this doesn't always occur in ways that are respectful or mutually beneficial. When we sat down with some Traditional Custodians from our region, we gained some valuable insights into current practice in the industry and heard some recommendations for improvements. 

If these recommendations were to be enacted, we strongly believe that outcomes would not just be improved for local Traditional Owner groups, but also for the developer themselves, the community more broadly, and local biodiversity.

Photo credit: Eric Nordberg

It's no secret that Australians hold renewable energy projects to a much higher environmental standard than any other form of development. But just because the energy they produce is "greener" than fossil fuels, each project will of course have some impact on the local environment. 

So, what do these impacts look like in North Queensland? And could this extra scrutiny on renewables be leveraged to get better nature outcomes?

If big solar is in our future, how do we ensure our biodiversity is, too?

Last night, we jumped online with some experts to find out!

What does an environmentally-successful energy transition look like for North Queensland? That's the question that kicked off our third workshop in this series, at the Smart Precinct NQ.

Ten workshop participants included representatives from Townsville City Council (including Cr Brodie Phillips), the Port of Townsville, Community Gro and the Dept of Environment, Science, Tourism and Innovation, alongside local engineers, ecologists and university students. Read on to see what we came up with!

Our country is changing the way we power our lives.

We're moving away from polluting fossil fuels to renewable energy that is good for people, climate and nature.

Done wisely, Australia’s energy transition can be a win-win: cutting emissions while restoring and protecting our incredible natural world. 

The Australian Conservation Foundation and WWF-Australia have developed a plan for how to make that happen.

Last Sunday, we set up our stall at Willows Market, right under one of Australia’s largest car park solar panel projects - a fitting location for conversations about our energy future! We had 20 in-depth conversations, with renewables once again coming out on top.

On Tuesday 25 March 2025, NQCC's Coordinator had the rare opportunity to attend Townsville Enterprise's fourth annual Green Energy Forum. With tickets aimed at industry representatives, not-for-profits like NQCC are generally priced out of such events, but a kind donor enabled our attendance. Below are our key takeaways from the day.

What a fantastic night at the Strand Night Markets last Friday! The crowds were out in full force, and after the recent rain, people were keen to get outside and enjoy the evening.

Our energy voting board was a real head-turner, drawing in plenty of curious passersby. We had great conversations with over 40 community members, diving into the complexities of the energy transition. Renewables took the win again, but there was certainly interest in nuclear technology.