New Zealand: Energy
Britain's nuclear white elephant stumbles
1 Aug 2016
Celebrations by the nuclear industry planned for today have been cancelled following the shock decision by Britain to put the world’s largest electricity project on hold.
State fracking controls don't exist, study finds
1 Aug 2016
Most local authorities in the United States are setting no controls on the impacts of fracking on communities, a new study says.
Fossil fuel workers to retrain in clean energy
1 Aug 2016
Scottish workers leaving the increasingly embattled oil and gas sector are being offered the chance to retrain for work in clean energy industries, under a new training scheme funded by the Scottish Government.
Call me Mercury, says Mighty River
29 Jul 2016
Mighty River Power says a rebranding campaign launched today reflects New Zealand’s future in clean energy.
A short history of nuclear fission ...
29 Jul 2016
An Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi, was the first to achieve it but just recently nuclear fission’s popularity has been decreasing.
Renewables overtake coal in UK power generation
29 Jul 2016
Biomass, wind and other clean sources produced a quarter of UK electricity last year, government figures show, as plant closures reduced coal’s share to 22 per cent.
Denmark targets 100% renewable electricity by 2050
29 Jul 2016
Currently, 40 per cent of Denmark’s electricity comes from wind, and the country’s target is to reach 50 per cent by 2020 and 100 per cent renewables by 2050.
Big emitters face landmark human rights case
28 Jul 2016
The world’s largest oil, coal, cement and mining companies have been given 45 days to respond to a complaint that their greenhouse gas emissions have violated the human rights of millions of people living in the Phillippines.
Z gets an A for corporate responsibility
27 Jul 2016
New kid on the block Z Energy was the only New Zealand-owned company to get top marks in this year’s review of the state of corporate social responsibility in New Zealand and Australia.
A nuclear reactor in every town? Don't laugh
27 Jul 2016
The nuclear industry sees the UK as a springboard for its plans to expand in the next 20 years, especially as a pioneer in the deployment of a new breed of small reactors.
China's coal peak hailed as turning point
26 Jul 2016
The global battle against climate change has passed a historic turning point with China’s huge coal burning finally having peaked, according to senior economists.
MINE GAMES: Plunder of Earth’s natural resources is rising
25 Jul 2016
Humans’ appetite for gnawing away at the fabric of the Earth itself is growing prodigiously.
As nuclear power plants close, states need to bet big on energy storage
25 Jul 2016
Pacific Gas and Electric has started the process of shutting down the Diablo Canyon generation facility, the last active nuclear power plant in California.
US oil sector fights climate disclosure push
25 Jul 2016
Oil companies say a campaign by environmentalists to force them to reveal more about their climate change risks and carbon emissions in financial documents could cause "disclosure overload" that would not better inform investors.
The future of Big Oil? At Shell, it's not oil
21 Jul 2016
At Australia’s Curtis Island, you can see Big Oil morphing into Big Gas. Just off the northeastern coast lies a 667-acre liquefied natural gas terminal owned by Royal Dutch Shell, an engineering feat of staggering complexity.
Offshore windfarms power ahead in Europe
20 Jul 2016
Falling costs mean that power generated by offshore wind farms is becoming increasingly competitive with other fuels – and that’s good news for the climate.
Drones set to play big role in change to renewables
20 Jul 2016
Energy providers are looking at the emergent technology of drones to help them with their day-to-day maintenance of renewables installations and to decrease their costs.
America's booming marijuana industry is an energy hog
20 Jul 2016
As Americans go to the polls in November, at least four states will consider ballot questions on marijuana legalisation.
Monkey business threatening India's solar development
18 Jul 2016
Indian officials are looking into offering insurance for solar panel owners that would cover natural disasters, extreme weather, theft ... and monkey damage.
POWER STRUGGLE: Why the energy market doesn't work
15 Jul 2016
The energy market must be fundamentally redesigned to deal with climate change, say the authors of two studies comparing the impacts of photovoltaics and fossil fuels supply chains.
New energy putting a dent in emissions
15 Jul 2016
Americans are using less electricity as buildings become more energy-efficient and industrial power demand weakens.
POWER SHOCK: Just how climate friendly are we?
14 Jul 2016
New Zealand’s electricity generation might not be as climate friendly as we think.
Three reasons to be cheerful about the 1.5deg target
14 Jul 2016
The recent streak of record-breaking temperatures has shown that climate change is not waiting for the world to take decisive action.
Hotel installs biggest rooftop solar array in US
14 Jul 2016
The largest rooftop solar array in the United States has been installed on top of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
No worries, says Republican Party, coal is clean
13 Jul 2016
The Republican National Convention's draft platform officially describes coal as "an abundant, clean, affordable, reliable domestic energy resource."
Meet the woman who took on Canada’s tar sand barons
12 Jul 2016
Canada’s tar sand fields remind environmentalist Tzeporah Berman of Mordor, the evil land of fire and death in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
BONUS BILLION: Our untouched energy potential
11 Jul 2016
New Zealand businesses have a billion dollars worth of unrealised energy efficiency potential, says the head of the country’s energy conservation authority.
World's largest storage battery will power LA
11 Jul 2016
More than 18,000 lithium ion battery packs could replace a gas-fired power plant used to meet peak demand in Los Angeles.
Electric Highway to expand in UK
11 Jul 2016
Ecotricity will start charging electric car drivers for using its British Electric Highway – Europe’s most comprehensive car charging network.
Fonterra signs on as biodiesel pioneer
8 Jul 2016
Dairy co-operative Fonterra has signed up as the first customer for Z Energy’s new biodiesel.
More companies looking beyond lightbulbs
8 Jul 2016
More companies are showing an interest in generating all of their energy and installing microgrids for the best available resiliency.
How nuclear records paper over the flaws
7 Jul 2016
The nuclear industry is celebrating breaking records that have stood for a quarter of a century − but a new update on its successes still fails to disperse the clouds over its future.
Piles of dirty secrets behind clean coal project
7 Jul 2016
A Mississippi project, a centerpiece of President Obama’s climate plan, has been plagued by problems that managers tried to conceal, and by cost overruns and questions of who will pay.
US farmers turn their tobacco into jet fuel
7 Jul 2016
As the demand for tobacco declines in the US, farmers in Virginia are experimenting with turning the crop into viable biofuel.
Vector adds up benefits of charging stations
6 Jul 2016
Vector says its seven electric vehicle charging stations in Auckland have potentially prevented 29,000 kilograms of carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere.
Norway eyes full carbon capture by 2022
5 Jul 2016
Norway says that by 2022 it could realise every step in the development of a technology many see as critical to reducing global carbon emissions, carbon capture and storage.
Energy leaders renew faith in renewables
4 Jul 2016
Energy Ministers and senior officials meeting at the G20 energy ministers’ meeting in Beijing have recognised recent progress to scale up renewable energy and examined opportunities for even greater action today.
Green and cool roofs provide relief for hot cities
4 Jul 2016
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and the United Nations projects that this share will rise to 70 per cent by 2050.
Clinton's ambitious plan avoids carbon tax
4 Jul 2016
Hillary Clinton has promised to one-up President Obama on climate change, vowing to produce a third of the nation’s electricity from renewable sources by 2027, while spending billions of dollars to transform the energy economy.
Argentina to launch landmark renewables programme
4 Jul 2016
Argentina will launch an innovative renewable energy programme on August 22 with a public auction to buy 1000 MW of renewable energy.
Brexit hot air causes climate project problems
1 Jul 2016
The shock waves felt round the world at the UK’s decision in a referendum to leave the European Union will have unexpected consequences for some major projects linked to climate change.
Government makes energy-use facts available
29 Jun 2016
Three years’ worth of information on New Zealand’s energy use is now available to the public.
How China can harness wind of change
29 Jun 2016
Strategically siting wind turbines where their energy can most easily be fed into the national grid could help to meet more than a quarter of China’s massive electricity demand.
Oakland votes to ban coal shipments
29 Jun 2016
Officials in Oakland, California, have effectively ended proposals to open a new coal export terminal by voting to ban the transport and storage of the fossil fuel within city limits.
Siemens freezes UK wind power investment
29 Jun 2016
Siemens is putting new wind power investment plans in the UK on hold due to uncertainty caused by last week’s Brexit vote.
Wind and solar have won – it’s too late for the rest
28 Jun 2016
Across the world, solar photovoltaics and wind are the dominant clean energy technologies. This dominance is likely to become overwhelming over the next few years, preventing other clean energy from growing much.
Germany agrees to ban fracking
28 Jun 2016
German politicians have approved a law that bans fracking, ending years of dispute over the controversial technology to release oil and gas locked deep underground.
Berlin pulls out of fossil fuels
27 Jun 2016
Berlin’s parliament has voted to pull its money out of coal, gas and oil companies.
A brief history of fossil-fuelled climate denial
24 Jun 2016
The fossil fuel industry has spent many millions of dollars on confusing the public about climate change. But the role of vested interests in climate science denial is only half the picture.
Green building council calls for clean energy policies
Mon 18 May 2026
The New Zealand Green Building Council has released its 2026 election manifesto calling for policies to reduce energy waste in buildings, lower household and business energy costs, and improve New Zealand’s energy security.
Greens condemn planned coal mine next to protected wetland
4 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Green Party says a new plan for a coal mine and fertiliser plant next to an internationally significant wetland is “ecological vandalism and climate denial.”
Climate pollution static but NZ still on track for first emissions budget, says MfE
17 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand is still on track to meet its first emissions budget, according to the Ministry for the Environment, despite the pace of emissions reductions slowing to a standstill.
NZ at risk of falling behind on EV transition
Fri 22 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | An EV lobby group is warning that New Zealand is at a crossroads on transport electrification, with inconsistent policy settings and lagging charging infrastructure slowing uptake, while global adoption accelerates and fuel price shocks renew interest in electric vehicles.
Govt presses ahead with forestry rule changes despite opposition
14 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government is pushing ahead with changes to commercial forestry rules despite most submitters opposing the proposals, with critics warning the reforms will weaken councils’ ability to manage erosion and forestry slash risks in vulnerable regions such as Tairāwhiti.
Victorian Hydrogen announces Southland urea fertiliser project using coal
22 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Australian-based Victorian Hydrogen has announced it is developing a new 1.5 million-tonne-a-year urea fertiliser operation in Southland, which it will apply for under fast-track legislation.
