“The original spark for CORENA came from a light-hearted quip. I was enthusing about the stationary energy plan, published by Beyond Zero Emissions in 2010, to a fairly mainstream relative. When she heard that Australia could transition to 100% renewable energy in 10 years at a cost of just $8/week per household, she said, “Great! Where do I send my $8 per week?“
An idea was born. It occurred to me that possibly hundreds of thousands of householders were thinking the same thing. Why not establish a ‘place’ where all these people could send their contributions (of any amount) to collectively pay for practical renewable energy projects that reduce carbon emissions immediately. So we did.
Since then of course, numerous people have been involved in shaping CORENA. My thanks to them, and to all of you who are turning the original spark into reality.”
– Margaret Hender, Founder
History and aims
CORENA is a not-for-profit group with nation-wide membership incorporated on April 22, 2013, under the name Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia Incorporated. Our ABN is 92 929 665 880. Download our Constitution, Revised September 2022.
The CORENA vision is a world in which everyone who wants a safe climate is empowered to help achieve it.
Our goal is to provide a simple mechanism that enables everyone to help collectively achieve prompt and tangible climate outcomes.
Our strategy is to organise practical projects that achieve carbon emission reductions that would otherwise be unlikely to occur, and to invite everyone to chip in to collectively pay for the project costs.
We choose projects that not only reduce carbon emissions cost-effectively but also reduce operating costs. This means that an interest-free loan is sufficient to enable a project to proceed and the resultant savings on operating costs cover the loan repayments back into our revolving fund. In this way donated funds are used over and over again in subsequent projects.
The revolving fund is a key element in our approach. It means that the money donated to projects is never exhausted and continues to achieve climate benefits far into the future.
In April 2016 the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts added our Public Fund, Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia Fund, to the list of environmental funds granted tax deductible donation status. Accordingly, donations of $2 or more are now tax deductible. CORENA is also a registered charity with the ACNC.
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