Disrupted: Power, Water and AI

Disrupted is UNSW Engineering and Founders panel series where we dive headfirst into the fault lines of innovation and disruption. AI doesn’t run on ideas. It runs on power. Every prompt, every model, every “instant” response. Behind it all are data centres — drawing vast amounts of electricity, consuming water at scale, and placing growing pressure on infrastructure that was never designed for this level of demand. And as AI adoption surges, so does the question:

Can our infrastructure keep up?

This edition of Disrupted, presented by UNSW Faculty of Engineering and UNSW Founders, confronts the hidden cost of computation — and asks the harder question: If AI is scaling exponentially, how do we power it sustainably?

What we’ll discuss

• The real energy and water footprint behind AI and data centres

• How growing compute demand is reshaping energy systems and infrastructure

• The trade-offs between speed, scale, and sustainability

• Where innovation is solving the problem — and where it’s making it worse

• And what founders, engineers, and policymakers must rethink as AI continues to scale

Speakers

Belinda Dennett
Belinda Dennett is a highly respected public policy specialist with more than 20 years experience at the forefront of Australia’s digital economy and technology ecosystem. She is Chief Executive Officer of Data Centres Australia, the peak body for data centres and the AI infrastructure sector in Australia. Belinda was previously Head of Government Relations at AirTrunk and earlier spent more than a decade leading Microsoft’s Australian Corporate Affairs and Policy team. Belinda is a former Federal ministerial advisor with a focus on digital economy policy. She has qualifications in law and business.

Tim Jordan
Tim Jordan is an economist who has worked in public policy, investment and corporate strategy to drive the energy transition. As a consultant, Tim advised leading organisations on energy transition strategies. He led investment research and strategy at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Australia's green investment bank, laying the groundwork for its expansion into new technologies and asset classes. At Deutsche Bank he advised institutional investors on energy transition risks and opportunities. In government, Tim was a senior adviser to Australia's first federal minister for climate change, where he worked on designing a national emissions trading scheme and expanding Australia's renewable energy target. Tim has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland, an MPhil from University College London, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar, and a Master of Economics from the University of Sydney.

Dr Amr Omar
Dr Amr Omar is a senior research associate at UNSW specialising in the sustainability of data centres, with a focus on the energy–water nexus and its implications for infrastructure planning. His work examines how cooling technologies, efficiency metrics such as PUE and WUE, and emerging solutions like renewable integration and heat reuse can reduce the environmental footprint of digital infrastructure. He has co-led and contributed to major projects with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, including the NSW Evaporative Cooling Roadmap, and is actively involved in developing evidence-based strategies to support sustainable data centres. 

Rebecca Vallance
Rebecca Vallance is an energy and decarbonisation expert at Baringa, with over 15 years’ experience advising governments, industry, and large energy users on the transition to net zero. She has held senior roles within the UK government, including Deputy Director positions across net zero buildings, biomethane, and upstream oil and gas policy. Rebecca has worked across the full energy value chain—from LNG project delivery to national policy design—and is a lead author of recent analysis on how the rapid growth of data centres is reshaping energy systems.

And joining the speakers as moderator is Professor Greg Leslie Director of the UNSW Global Water Institute and the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology. An internationally recognised expert in water treatment, reuse, and desalination, he has worked across major projects in Australia, the US, and Asia, including Singapore’s NEWater recycling program and California’s Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System. Greg has also contributed to global policy, serving on World Health Organization and Australian national committees shaping water quality and desalination guidelines.