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An Island is not an Island: A Green Precinct in the Great Barrier Reef

Wide Bay Water Corporation

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Overview

Funding	$1 290 000
Location	Hervey Bay and Heron Island, Queensland
Estimated annual savings	Water: 5 million litres Energy: 670 000 kilowatt hours CO2 emissions: 187 tonnes

The title and concept of this project was inspired by Alfred Russell Wallace, whose pioneering work on climate change in the early 20th Century recognised that an island emitting greenhouse gases 40 kilometres off the mainland could pollute just as much as a factory in an urban centre.

This project aims to reduce the environmental impact of Heron Island's three tenants - Heron Island Resort, the University of Queensland's research station and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife ranger station.

As the site is not on the electricity grid, the island's energy needs are produced through four 250 kilowatt diesel generators.

The project's ultimate aim is to achieve energy and water savings sufficient enough to run only one or two of the generators for a significant amount of time each day and reduce the island's environmental impact.

Key initiatives

Key initiatives of the project include:

• installing new desalination technology to reduce the power requirement for water production by an estimated 60 per cent
• retrofitting existing water facilities on the Island with the latest WELS and Smart WaterMark recommendation fittings
• a major pipe replacement program including replacing leaking pipes within the Island's water reticulation system
• improving the efficiency of the solar hot water systems for two of the island's resident
• installing three solar arrays, totaling more than 100 kilowatt in capacity, including one at the Wide Bay Water Park as part of the educational and promotional program.