Aussies say: We want renewables over nuclear and coal

29 Apr. 2025

71%Seven out of 10 Australians (71%) want a faster renewable energy transition, despite current cost-of-living pressures.

Most Australians support renewable energy developments between 21-50km from their homes, with 61% open to closer facilities if electricity discounts are offered.

82%82% of Australians say they pay too much for electricity, highlighting the opportunity for cost effective renewable solutions.

A new national YouGov survey commissioned by Veolia has revealed that seven out of 10 Australians want to accelerate the renewable energy transition, signalling strong support for clean energy, despite current cost-of-living pressures.

The survey of over 1,000 Australians found that while 82% believe they pay too much for electricity today, there remains strong backing for renewable energy development, with most comfortable having renewable facilities within 21-50km of their homes.

While a diverse energy mix in Australia remains essential, the nation’s solar and wind resources, alongside battery technology and solutions like energy from waste make renewables fundamental to our energy future.

“We know Australia has all of the ingredients to lead the global renewable energy transition with abundant natural resources like sunlight and wind, and advanced technology. This survey reveals there is strong public support for it,” said Veolia ANZ CEO and Managing Director Richard Kirkman.

“Veolia is an active player in the energy sector, making significant investment in decarbonising local energy - including through renewable infrastructure, district heating and cooling, and behind-the-metre energy solutions to make the transition to more sustainable energy both reliable and affordable for Australians. Our whole Green Up strategy is based on how we can decarbonise, depollute and regenerate our world.”

Key findings reveal Australians have clear preferences for their energy future:

Rooftop solar leads as the most trusted energy source (73%)
Solar farms (71%) and hydroelectric power (68%) follow closely
Most Australians prefer renewable developments 21-50km from residential areas
61% would welcome closer renewable facilities if electricity discounts were offered
51% cited increased energy reliability as a key incentive

While policy plays an important role in a sustainable energy future, forward thinking businesses have already been moving towards this, recognising the opportunities it presents both from a commercial, decarbonisation and ecological transformation point of view.

Veolia is a leader in solutions for local, decarbonised energy, with a strong drive to shift its business and that of its customers to renewable energy. In Australia, this includes a number of key renewable energy projects both in action (including solar, wind and biogas), with more in the pipeline. It’s all part of a progressive strategy to deliver a circular economy powered by renewable energy infrastructure, including local networks for major developments that include heat exchange systems, renewable sourced power and energy saving measures to underpin our economy and the way of life for every Australian.

"The results clearly show that Australians want a sustainable energy future, but they also need assurance about reliability and affordability," Kirkman said.

“Veolia's experience in delivering sustainable infrastructure positions it as a key player in Australia's energy transition.”

As Australia moves toward its target of 82% renewable electricity, we are uniquely positioned to help deliver this transition through our proven expertise in sustainable infrastructure and local energy solutions.

“We have the know-how and are committed to making sustainable energy both accessible and affordable for all Australians.”

Survey Note: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Fieldwork was undertaken between 16th - 20th January 2025. Total sample size was 1,004 adults. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all Australian adults (aged 18+).

Data - What the survey found

Which energy technologies are Australians most likely to include in their top-5 selection for preferred energy sources on our electricity grid?

73% of Australians selected rooftop solar within their top 5
71% selected solar farms
68% selected hydro-electric power generation
60% selected wind farms
51% selected biogas
39% selected nuclear power
35% selected gas-fired power
31% selected coal-fired power
4% selected none of these

The renewable energy transition

75% say switching to renewable energy will help combat climate change
71% say we need to shift more quickly to renewable energy
52% have concerns about changing to renewable energy
38% are not concerned at all about changing to renewable energy
9% don’t know

What are the concerns of the 52%? In order they are:

68% - Reliability of energy
65% - Increased energy costs
51% - Upfront costs/investment needed for transition
42% - Limited access to renewable energy technology
31% - Inconvenience to home/community installation
31% - Job insecurity for those in traditional energy sectors

Where we are today

83% of Australians say governments should help fund the cost of household batteries
82% of Australians say they pay too much for electricity
74% are satisfied with their current electricity services
71% say we should increase electricity providers to drive down prices
67% agree that they have reliable electricity

Climate change:

86% of those who believe climate change is real say that humans play a role
11% of those who believe in climate change say the main cause is natural processes
3% say there is no climate change

Interesting facts on energy selection:

The energy technology selections that were most commonly ranked in their top 5 among those who do not believe in human caused climate change were:
hydro-electric power generation (68%)
nuclear power (63%)
coal-fired power (62%)
rooftop solar (61%) and
gas-fired power (58%)
Wind power (30%) was the least trusted energy generation technology by this group
Trust for nuclear power in the general population was highest among those living in Queensland and Victoria (in both states 44% ranked it within their top 5)
Selected first: 22% of Australians ranked rooftop solar as their most trusted energy technology to have in their electricity grid, followed by solar farms (21%), nuclear (13%), hydroelectric (11%), wind farms (8%), coal-fired power (7%), gas fired power (4%), biogas (4%) and 4% saying they would trust none of these.
Selected first by deniers of human caused climate change: By contrast the number one selection here was nuclear power (32%), coal-fired power (14%) rooftop solar (11%), gas-fired power (8%), solar farms (8%), hydroelectric (7%), wind farms (6%), biogas (4%), and 2% would trust none of these.

What concerns do Australians have about renewable energy technologies built nearby?

41% Negative impacts on the environment
36% Health impacts
36% Loss of useful land and land clearing
30% Pollution risks
28% Lack of consultation
27% Loss of visual amenity
25% Installation of transmission lines
25% Decrease in property values
24% Noise
13% Increased vehicle movements
17% I have no concerns about renewables being built in my area
Interesting fact on concerns about renewable energy nearby:
The top three concerns for those who do not believe in human caused climate change were Loss of useful land and land clearing (50%), Negative impacts on the environment (42%), and Decrease in property values (39%).

Which arguments for renewable energy do Australians agree with?

49% - Renewable energy will reduce our use of fossil fuels
48% - Reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps combat climate change
48% - Is clean safe, and efficient producing little or no pollution
47% - Reduces our dependence on imported fuels
43% - Will reduce our long term energy costs compared to fossil fuels
39% - Has more advantages than disadvantages
37% - Can contribute to generating more jobs
36% - Is an area where Australia can be a superpower
34% - Can make power supply more reliable
33% - Contributes to boosting the economy
12% - None of these

Interesting additional findings for this bracket:

37% of people who deny human caused climate change say None of these
We asked Australians at what distance they could comfortably live from a range of sustainable energy generation technologies. The ranges were 0-5km, 6-20km, 21-50km, more than 50km, not at all, or didn’t know. We found:
63% of Australians were happy to live within 5km of rooftop solar.
Around one in five Australians said they would be comfortable living 21-50km away from solar farms (18%), wind farms (20%), biogas generators (23%), hydro electric power plants (22%) and pumped hydro power generation (19%).
However, 62% of Australians would not feel comfortable with a nuclear power plant within 50kms of where they live or don’t want them built at all, 51% of Australians would not feel comfortable with a coal-fired power plant within 50kms of where they live or don’t want them built at all and 47% of Australians would not feel comfortable with a gas-fired power plant within 50kms of where they live or don’t want them built at all.
35% of Australians don’t want nuclear plants built at all and 26% don’t want another coal-fired power station built in Australia.
In contrast, 26% of people who don’t believe in human caused climate change would be comfortable living within 0-5km of a coal fired power plant and 22% would be comfortable living 0-5km from a nuclear power plant.
However, for people who don’t believe in human caused climate change, 54% of them would NOT feel comfortable living closer than 50kms from a wind farm or wouldn’t want it built at all. A massive 37% of them wouldn’t want wind farms built at all.

Which of the following targets do you believe we will achieve? (Lowest belief to highest)

11% ― We are on track to keep global temperatures below 1.5C
18% ― We are on track to meet net zero emissions by 2050
18% ― We are on track to reuse and recycle 80% of our waste by 2030
21% ― We are on track to meet the Federal Govt target of 82% of our electricity being supplied through renewable sources
21% ― We are on track to reduce the waste generated by every Australian by 10% by 2030
24% ― Don’t know
30% ― None of these

What are the top 5 incentives that would encourage you to have a renewable energy facility built in your region?

61% - Discounts on my electricity bill
55% - Reduction in pollution
52% - Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
51% - Increased energy reliability
45% - More local jobs
28% - Meaningful community consultation
27% - Funding for community activities
27% - Preserve or add value to agricultural land
26% - Income from renewable sites on my land
8% - No incentives would encourage me

Interesting facts on incentives

94% of all Australians say there are incentives that would encourage them to have renewable energy facilities built in their region.
Discounts matter to everybody. Even 45% of those people that don’t believe in human caused climate change said they would be more likely to support renewable energy facilities in their area if they could get a discount on theirbills.
Two areas of focus for business and government, meaningful community consultation and funding for community activities actually rate very low on the list of incentives.
Of those people that don’t believe in climate change, around 1 in 5 (18%) say no incentive would change their position around building renewable energy facilities in their region.