- Posted on 18 Jun 2025
- 3-minute read
PhD candidate Jem Cox is addressing Australia's energy challenge through rethinking home electrification and ensuring meaningful First Nations engagement.
After a career in resource and environmental economics, and land tenure in Papua New Guinea and Ecuador, Jem Cox pivoted into research to help address a growing societal dilemma: how to transition Australian homes off fossil fuels. His PhD at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) is not only grounded in rigorous academic research but also actively shaping solutions on the ground.
Cox is supervised by ISF’s Professor Chris Riedy and Dr Ed Langham, with additional guidance from a diverse advisory group representing business, industry, philanthropy. His focus also aligns with the Race for 2030 CRC. Together, they’re investigating how local communities can help guide Australia’s shift to clean energy – particularly in a country where homes rank among the least energy efficient in the developed world.
As Europe leads in home energy efficiency and community renewable energy, how can Australia follow and scale these decentralised community institutions and innovations?
I hope the research can help inform the design of regulatory frameworks for local government and community partnerships that can support a just and scalable energy transition...
Electrify Bouddi
Cox’s research is anything but theoretical. He’s also co-founder of Electrify Bouddi, a community energy project on the NSW Central Coast. Named after the local First Nations word for "heart", the project aims to bring communities together with trusted experts on how to increase home energy efficiency and local renewables. Working with several trusted service installers, providers, and over 200 homes as members.
“We hope to build our understanding of what role we can play to support this. Australia’s energy transition is the biggest economic change since the industrial revolution. But we need to work together to make it a just and fair transition. Our experience so far is the power of local participation is so important,” Cox says.
Award-winning First Nations engagement
Last April at the national Smart Energy Council annual conference and awards celebration, Cox and the Electrify Bouddi team received the inaugural Excellence in First Nations Engagement award.
When asked about the award, Cox says it celebrates artistic works that connect with the environment and address climate concerns.
“In our experience, art often opens hearts where facts alone might not reach. It helps us imagine sustainable futures and connect communities to climate action through stories that resonate on a deeper level.”
At the intersection of First Nations knowledge, environmental consciousness, and creative expression lies a powerful force for change. Jem Cox’s work offers a hopeful model for Australia’s journey to a zero-carbon economy, with people and place at the centre.