Sign in

Shanil Samarakoon

@shanilsam.bsky.social
79 followers 66 following 22 posts

PhD | Human geographer focused on energy transitions | Co-Founder of Empower Projects | Currently thinking about issues of #repair and #ewaste in the solar sector.

PostsRepliesMedia
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
"My name is Saththiyasri. I am the Treasurer of the Puthumai Women Farmers' Society. We have provided revolving loans to 35 women for farming. Thanks to this fund, our women no longer need to turn to profit making credit companies. With your support we can go further" chuffed.org/project/trinco
011
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Help @empowerprojects.bsky.social support this women's agricultural cooperative in #SriLanka - their efforts to rebuild post-Cyclone Ditwah have been incredible: chuffed.org/project/trinco
chuffed.org
Help Kadakaraichenai Women's Cooperative grow
TRINCOMALEE DISTRICT, SRI LANKA — After Cyclone Ditwah in late 2025, the women of Kadakaraichenai have shown extraordinary resilience. With support from Empower Projects, their cooperative has already...
131
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 15/06/2026
If you build three gigawatts of solar in the desert, and then use all of that to power the melting of computer chips to run GenAI (instead of helping to push fossil fuels out of the system through an undersea cable to Asia), what's the benefit to climate, or biodiversity or environment?
nthropic poised to rescue Mike Cannon-Brookes’ $40bn SunCable project
Anthropic, the world’s most valuable AI start-up, has entered advanced talks to become the anchor tenant for SunCable’s $40bn Northern Territory data centre project.
John Stensholt
 and 
Perry Williams
3 min read
June 12, 2026 - 6:12PM
516243
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
My hundredth essay at my newsletter (in just under 500 days). It's about beauty and pleasure, films and trees and singing, about the small things,and their relationship to democracy and the large things.
meditationsinanemergency.com
In the Dark Times Will There Also Be Singing?
This is the one-hundredth essay at Meditations in an Emergency. Thank you everyone who has joined me here. A while back I bought a first edition of a Willa Cather novel for nothing much at a library ...
1538287
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I had the privilege of spending time with this women's cooperative in #SriLanka in Feb. Their solidarity and perseverance was so humbling. They need our help to help more women improve their livelihoods. 100% of donations go to their co-op fund, and are tax deductible. chuffed.org/project/trinco
chuffed.org
Help Kadakaraichenai Women's Cooperative grow
TRINCOMALEE DISTRICT, SRI LANKA — After Cyclone Ditwah in late 2025, the women of Kadakaraichenai have shown extraordinary resilience. With support from Empower Projects, their cooperative has already...
000
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
A short film from the launch of the Fixim Sola vocational training program on off-grid solar repair in #Vanuatu. 48 participants from Tafea province (5 islands) took part in a 2-week program that covered the fundamentals of #solar + how to perform basic maintenance and #repair operations
youtube.com
Launching Fixim Sola: Empowering Vanuatu's remote communities through solar repair training
YouTube video by Business Partnerships Platform
141
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
On Vanuatu’s outer islands, off-grid solar brings vital lighting, phone-charging and cooling where the grid can’t reach—but what happens these system break down? 'Fixim Sola' is addressing this challenge by building local repair capabilities i.e. training, support & tools. #repair #solar #offgrid
thebpp.com.au
Solar repair training empowering remote Vanuatu communities to tackle waste and create jobs
Fixim Sola, a new solar repair training course launched last month in Vanuatu’s Tafea Province is giving local communities the tools, skills and confidence to manage solar waste…
100
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Our team at @ceemunsw.bsky.social have a new article on 24/7 Carbon-Free Electricity procurement in Australia. This research examined diverse stakeholder perspectives on this emerging form of RE procurement, including its scope for decarbonising electricity in Australia #research
sciencedirect.com
The right time for real-time? Stakeholder perspectives on the role of temporal matching in renewable energy procurement in Australia
Amid mounting stakeholder pressure to decarbonise electricity consumption, corporate renewable electricity (RE) procurement has played a significant r…
011
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Josh Nicholas @joshnicholas.com · 21/03/2025
I wrote a thing about drawing and Melbourne www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
Tourists, watercolours and the sad, still Star: sketching the route 35 tram showed me a Melbourne I had never really noticed
When you are in a city every day, you start to take things for granted. So, after three years in Melbourne, Josh Nicholas decided to be a tourist
22812
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Collaboration on Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM) @ceemunsw.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
New paper from CEEM researchers exploring stakeholder perspectives on 24/7 Carbon-Free Electricity procurement in Australia has just been published: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🔌💡
sciencedirect.com
The right time for real-time? Stakeholder perspectives on the role of temporal matching in renewable energy procurement in Australia
Amid mounting stakeholder pressure to decarbonise electricity consumption, corporate renewable electricity (RE) procurement has played a significant r…
144
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Martin Jones @martincjones.com · 15/04/2025
"While we found interest in 24/7 CFE among some sophisticated buyers and the emerging green hydrogen sector, we argue that 24/7 CFE contracting will likely play a limited role in driving decarbonisation in Australia's electricity sector."
032
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Dylan McConnell @dylanjmcconnell.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
📣 New paper from @shanilsam.bsky.social, @miker66.bsky.social, and other colleagues at @ceemunsw.bsky.social on perspectives of 24/7 "real time" RE procurement in Au! (tl;dr: will likely play a limited role in driving decarbonisation in Australia..) 🔌💡 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
The right time for real-time? Stakeholder perspectives on the role of temporal matching in renewable energy procurement in Australia
Amid mounting stakeholder pressure to decarbonise electricity consumption, corporate renewable electricity (RE) procurement has played a significant r…
2105
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
JA Westenberg @joanwestenberg.com · 29/03/2025
When people say 'politics is too divisive now,' what they really mean is 'I was more comfortable when certain groups suffered quietly.'
185123062693
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
. @paulmunro.bsky.social outlines our research on off-grid (final 8 mins) #solar repair and e-waste in #Vanuatu, #Zambia and #Malawi. He discusses the dynamics of the off-grid sector that complicate repair, the challenges communities face on the ground, and the solutions (upstream & downstream).
abc.net.au
Flow Batteries, windships, and a new approach to off-grid solar - ABC listen
They're cheaper and safer than their lithium counterparts, they're easier to scale-up, and they can hold power for much longer than conventional batteries, so why aren't flow batteries better known? T...
021
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 23/02/2025
these are the kind of moves that'll eventually move the needle towards shifting power away from tech oligarchs
131720389
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Just over a week to go to get your abstracts in (Feb 28th) for our session on "Future energy systems - embracing creativity in energy transformations"at @energygeography.bsky.social . Please share with anyone that might be keen to participate, be it in-person or online. Details below 👇
043
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
theconversation.com
Would Sidney Nolan be cancelled for painting Ned Kelly today? That’s what Creative Australia has done to Khaled Sabsabi
Contentious figures have always featured in Australian art – and this fact is what makes Khaled Sabsabi’s removal from the Venice Biennale so confronting.
011
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
🚨 CfP 🚨 Pleased to be co-hosting an online/hybrid session for RGS-IBG on "Future energy systems-embracing creativity in energy transformations" at this year's @energygeography.bsky.social conference, with Anna Cain, @paulmunro.bsky.social , @rex-martin.bsky.social and @miker66.bsky.social 1/2
153
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 13/02/2025
Shell was comfortably the world's largest purchaser of carbon offsets in 2024. carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/02/12/b...
carbonmarketwatch.org
Behind the green curtain: big oil and the voluntary carbon market - Carbon Market Watch
Shell was the world’s largest user of carbon credits in 2024, a year in which fossil fuel companies dominated the voluntary carbon market. This allows Shell was the world’s largest user of carbon cred...
03913
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
A blog post on some recent fieldwork in #Zambia. @mattkearns.bsky.social and I had the opportunity to accompany repair technicians from @solaraid.bsky.social during "Repair Days" for small-scale solar products. offgridsolarrepair.com/bringing-lig...
offgridsolarrepair.com
Bringing Light Back: A Day of Solar Repair in rural Zambia - Off-grid Solar Repair
A blog about a day of fieldwork in rural Zambia with Solar Aid's repair technicians.
010
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Hannah McCann @binarythis.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Open letter for academics to sign in support of academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, whose Australian research grant on “Arab/Muslim Australian Social Movements since the 1970s” is being targeted by the Australian Government for political reasons docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Open Letter on Academic Freedom
We, the undersigned, write to express our condemnation of the decision by the Education Minister Jason Clare to request the Australian Research Council (ARC) to investigate the Future Fellowship of Ma...
13422
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Very worrying. There is of course a serious problem with anti-semitism in Australian society. But changing the definition of anti-semitism to outlaw protests by university students against the conflict in Gaza will do nothing to stop hatred in our community www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
Inquiry urges Australian universities to ‘closely align’ with controversial definition of antisemitism
Report tabled by Labor MP Josh Burns finds there is an ‘urgent need for reform’ to ensure safety of Jewish students
2926485
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Senator David Shoebridge @davidshoebridge.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Enough is enough - today I’ll be tabling our Federal bill to protect protest from these kinds of inappropriate restrictions. We will fight for the right to fight for your rights!
112644
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Rex Martin @rex-martin.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
We're seeking contributions that engage with creativity and transformation towards future energy systems 250 word abstracts due Mon 24th February Details: drive.google.com/file/d/1Lgzz...
drive.google.com
RGS-IBG 2025 session Future energy systems-embracing creativity in energy transformations.pdf
011
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Delighted to be co-hosting an online / hybrid session on "Future energy systems-embracing creativity in energy transformations" at this year's @energygeography.bsky.social conference, with Anna Cain, @paulmunro.bsky.social, @shanilsam.bsky.social & @rex-martin.bsky.social of @ceemunsw.bsky.social 1/
142
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Rex Martin @rex-martin.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
🚨 CfP 🚨 Co-hosting an online / hybrid session for RGS-IBG on "Future energy systems-embracing creativity in energy transformations" at this year's @energygeography.bsky.social conference, with Anna Cain, @paulmunro.bsky.social, @shanilsam.bsky.social @miker66.bsky.social 1/2
163
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
Interesting story by @dancharles.bsky.social about what happens when farmers abandon land, and what types of ecosystems come back. (Globally agricultural land is still expanding on a net basis, but it is contracting in some places.)
science.org
Farmers are abandoning land worldwide. What should happen to it?
Ecologists differ on whether to steer recovery or let nature take its course
107926
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Rex Martin @rex-martin.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
New(ish) research published in #ERSS with the terrific Yolande Strengers where we propose the concept of 'non-energy feedback' to examine how data not directly about energy still shapes it's use. Specifically we explore sensory, social, material and systemic forms of non-energy feedback 1/2
153
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Joe Rand @josephrand.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
I put together a starter pack of energy social scientists (distinct from the existing 'climate social science' starter pack). So far it's a small but mighty list. Please collaborate to help build this out! 🔌💡 go.bsky.app/5zMF4Vx
5125
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
The Household Energy Glossary from @rex-martin.bsky.social and colleagues looks to enhance communication within and beyond the sector. 🔌💡
monash.edu
151
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 12/12/2024
After 65,000 years caring for this land, First Nations peoples are now key to Australia’s clean energy revolution theconversation.com/after-65-000...
theconversation.com
After 65,000 years caring for this land, First Nations peoples are now key to Australia’s clean energy revolution
A new federal government strategy outlines how to elevate the rights of Indigenous Australians
418740
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 10/12/2024
I don't think there's been anything stopping anyone from choosing to fully ignore Dutton's nuclear claims and put a blowtorch on the Albanese govt's performance at actually enacting emissions reductions, renewable rollout and most importantly, meeting their own claim to meet the Paris agreement
29823
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 08/12/2024
40% of the mass of everything transported by a ship in 2023 was a fossil fuel. That stat paired with this new study shines a pretty harsh spotlight on how obscenely bad-faith the right-wing concern trolling around offshore wind + whales is www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
seattletimes.com
UW study finds leading cause of whale deaths
New research shows that the top threat to whales around the globe has changed. But it wouldn't take much to reduce the risk, researchers say.
622840856
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Li-ion batteries, a key waste object when it comes to off-grid #solar products across the Global South. There is a lack of standardisation in the usage of these batteries, and acute challenges in getting spares. When available, replacements can double the productive lifespan of these products.
011
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Dylan McConnell @dylanjmcconnell.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
"The projections assume the Australian Government's 82 per cent renewable electricity generation target for on-grid electricity is met by 2030." Phrased differently: the projections show we are on to meet the target, because we assume the target will be met!
1147
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
A national snapshot shows internet access is improving overall, but half of Australia's Aboriginal communities still don't have phone reception www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
abc.net.au
Remote Aboriginal communities left offline in digital age shift
These days, just about everything is being done online. But new research highlights how hard that's making life for thousands of Australians still living without phone and internet.
23212
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Empower Projects @empowerprojects.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
A picture of #Solar irrigation in action during the dry season :) We've been supporting Demera Cooperative in #Malawi to establish, diversify and scale their efforts. With support from, Sopowerful Foundation, they are able to grow a more diverse range of crops more often.
011
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Jenny Sinclair @jsresearchpro.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
New Zealand: research community "horrified" at Marsden panels axing (free to read): www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-new-...
022
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Dylan McConnell @dylanjmcconnell.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Well blow me down with a feather .. Who could possibly have seen this coming [broadly gestures everywhere]
1165
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 06/12/2024
Don't think it's well recognised how the Labor party have been a boon for the carbon offsetting industry, in Australia cer.gov.au/markets/repo...
a chart showing rising offset salesa chart showing rising offset sales
75112
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Empower Projects @empowerprojects.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Local artisans completing the construction of a school meal kitchen at Kamwendo Primary School in Ntchisi, #Malawi. This building will be the nerve center or a breakfast program developed through locally grown produce in 2025. Over 300 pupils will benefit from this community-run initiative.
011
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Some amazing fieldwork experiences this year. A highlight was spending time with Solar Aid & 3rd party repair technicians in #Zambia. Incredible to note that the productive lives of these small (but often essential )solar products can be effectively doubled through Li-ion battery replacements.
011
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Some amazing fieldwork experiences this year. A highlight was spending time with Solar Aid & 3rd party repair technicians in #Zambia. Incredible to note that the productive lives of these small (but often essential )solar products can be effectively doubled through Li-ion battery replacements.
011
Shanil Samarakoon @shanilsam.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Our research website is up (still a work in progress) - a home for all of our work on off-grid #solar repair and #ewaste in #Malawi, #Zambia and #Vanuatu. offgridsolarrepair.com
offgridsolarrepair.com
Research on Off-grid Solar Repair
A hub for research projects focused on off-grid solar repair in the Global South.
011
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Empower Projects @empowerprojects.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Happy to transition from X to Bluesky! We are a for-purpose org that works in collaboration with schools and cooperatives in #Malawi and #SriLanka to support their development plans. Our work is informed by #permaculture We look forward to sharing project stories and updates with all of you.
082
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Olivia Wylie @otterkit.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
For folks looking to live more sustainably, I Fix It is a great place to learn how to fix lots and lots of stuff that we've been trained to give up on and replace. www.ifixit.com/Store #solarpunk #futureisbright
ifixit.com
The Official iFixit Store: Replacement Parts, Precision Tools, Fix Kits for Repair
What are you fixing? Professional-grade tools and replacement parts for any repair. We've got the exact tool you'll need for the job.
1258
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 02/12/2024
Your daily reminder: the suppliers of gas need to actively pay money to fabricate demand for gas. They are not angelic, humble passive heroes simply meeting the 'demands of society'. They know their dangerous product isn't needed to provide energy, and they're fighting to stop people ditching it
7293116
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 02/12/2024
"by telling the poor that their poverty is the result of the children they don't avoid having, the wealthy West deflects attention from its brutal, systematic impoverishment of the Global South" - @davidrvetter.bsky.social climatelaundry.substack.com/p/overpopula...
climatelaundry.substack.com
'Overpopulation' Is A Racist Trope. It's Time We Laid It To Rest
A new movie satirises the myth that climate change is a consequence of too many people. In the real world, our overpopulation obsession must be euthanised.
16365111
Reposted by Shanil Samarakoon
Empower Projects @empowerprojects.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
We work in partnership with marginalised communities in #Malawi and #SriLanka. We establish and scale #cooperative models to improve livelihoods. We support schools to be sustainability hubs for the wider community - food, water, energy & sanitation using #perrmaculture www.empoerprojects.org
youtube.com
Empower Projects - An Overview
YouTube video by Empower Projects
032