Wrapping up 2022: We are at the precipice... still
While so much has changed this year, so much more needs to change:
for climate action
for renewable energy generation and storage
for integrated water
and for sustainable cities.
In 2022 a lot changed… but also, not much changed
We had another year of extremes (the floods and storms featured heavily this year) and another year of weather and climate records. In Australia, we had a seismic change in federal politics. Australia is back at the climate change negotiation table, not undermining it.
But Australia is still in the top three emitters per capita. And while we are responsible for 1.5% of global emissions, we continue to export coal and gas linked to another 3.5% of global emissions.
New environmental standards, policies and projects
We saw in Australia new building standards approved (to come in next year so all new houses will be at least 7 star energy efficient). There were new water policies approved. Warragamba Dam wall height was debated at length. New urban greening projects were approved in Sydney and Melbourne. And the Bradfield Scheme was killed off again by the CSIRO (again, before it is proposed again in another decade).
We saw two significant announcements regarding batteries
Batteries are key to a zero emissions grid and zero emissions transport sector. The Federal Government announced 400 community batteries and the Victorian government announced 100 community batteries, both programs to start in 2023.
At Wave, we worked on one of the leading Neighbourhood Battery Initiative projects in Nillumbik this year, so this is close to our heart.
What we've been changing
Within the Wave team, we saw us continue to work on water and energy projects across Sydney, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide, and Perth. And occasionally bidding for work in the Pacific.
We must have audited close to 1000 water tanks, raingardens and wetlands this year. All made possible by using our on-ground maintenance skills to assess and propose recertification for these assets.
Solving key sustainability questions for clients
We were able to build some incredibly complex computer models to solve some key questions for clients such as:
How well do rainwater tanks work when coupled with school holiday and weekend usage rates (on an hourly basis for decades)?
How does a community battery charge from local solar source, or from the grid, on a hourly basis for the next 15 years and build revenue from multiple sources?
We draft an Integrated Water Management (IWM) infrastructure plan to deliver environmental and flood retention targets and accounted for the ‘what if this stops working or gets blocked sometimes’ factors.
What’s coming up for Wave?
Some pretty cool initiatives and projects
Alba is now graduating and is starting full time as a project engineer working on both energy and water projects!
Starting work on innovative greywater treatment systems in the Alpine region
We’re delivering a new UNSW course on Net Zero homes
Plus an exciting move towards manufacturing green products
We want to help build green products and install them in your place, your building, your suburb, your local government and your city.
We are collaborating with the Monash Smart Manufacturing Hub to accelerate the design and manufacturing of:
small-scale but modular greywater systems
stormwater planter boxes to comply with planning regulations (for less cost!)
and green walls.
This is just for starters. Stay tuned for more as we progress with this.
Join our growing team
We hope to grow our team of water and renewable energy experts in 2023.
So, we’d love to chat with you if you’re contemplating a new job. Get in touch!