At Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW), we are acutely aware of the effect of climate change and committed to do what we can to minimise the impact of our operations on the environment.
In 2022, we committed to the target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2035. It is an ambitious target, but one we have already taken some significant steps towards.
A major contributor to the emissions GMW currently produces is our vehicle fleet.
As we manage water-related services in a region of 68,000 square kilometres, a lot of travel is required for many of our staff.
Our current SUV fleet is primarily made up of hybrid vehicles. We also recently added our first electric vehicle to the fleet, and will install a charging stations at our Casey Street office in Tatura later in the year.
Our target is to have a fleet that produces zero emissions by 2030. This will be dependent on the market availability of electric four-wheeled drives but we will look to ensure we have infrastructure in place to meet this target if the opportunities are there.
Earlier in the year, we took another key step towards net zero by installing a new solar panel system at our Casey Street office, which is home to more than 200 GMW staff.
The switch to solar made business sense as well as environmental sense, enabling us to offset grid demand and reduced electricity bills.
The success of this project is encouraging and provides a strong business case for us to complete similar installations at our other offices.
However, there are still many ways we can offset emissions outside of our offices and fleet.
The Mitiamo Solar Battery Project, which we completed in 2022, is one example of how we can achieved this.
The project involved the installation of batteries and solar panels at the Mitiamo Pumping station to enable the pumps that operate the Mitiamo Pipeline to be powered by solar.
By 2035, this project will have saved about 3000 tonnes in carbon emissions.
We are also looking to alter how we operate many of our other pumping stations.
Some of our pumping stations are only in operation for a few weeks each year, but use a significant amount of power during this time.
We are investigating the possibility of only operating these pumps during the daytime, as this would ensure they can be solely operated drawing on the solar power from the grid or provide us options to install solar systems.
The savings we are making today are setting our organisation in good stead for the future. It is still a long road to net zero, but with our commitment and future planning, we are confident we can achieve our goal and help leave a positive legacy for future generations.