New Zealand: Energy
Power companies explain ETS price rises
28 May 2010
At least one of the power companies implementing price rises on the back of the Emissions Trading Scheme is basing its calculations on the maximum carbon price.
Big player Genesis turns carbon market builder
14 May 2010
Big-emitting Genesis Energy is using its size to help to build liquidity in the fledgling New Zealand carbon market.
Kiwi companies eye $800m Canberra fund
14 May 2010
New Zealand companies might be eligible for a slice of an $800 million Australian pie.
Gull might import ethanol to meet fuel demand
23 Apr 2010
Gull Energy says it is considering importing ethanol because of a lack of Government support to get the local industry moving.
We're putting $650b into renewable energy
23 Apr 2010
Global Investments in renewable energy are expected to reach $US653.35 billion by 2015, a new report says.
Solid Energy lawyers check out free credits
9 Apr 2010
Solid Energy is investigating whether it qualifies for free credits under the emissions trading scheme.
Coal users count the cost - but how much?
26 Mar 2010
Coal users are about to find out just how much carbon could cost them.
NZ pioneer sells first overseas clean-tech rights
19 Mar 2010
A New Zealand company has just sold the first overseas licensing rights for its clean-tech energy and communications technology.
NZ drags chain on clean-tech, says Crest director
19 Feb 2010
A five-year legal battle to get permission to build a tidal energy plant on the Kaipara Harbour shows why New Zealand is falling behind on clean-tech development, says one of its proponents.
Wind grows share of power generation
12 Feb 2010
Wind generation capacity in New Zealand grew by more than 50 per cent last year and now provides more than 3 per cent of New Zealand's power.
Power stations switch turns off Meridian
11 Dec 2009
A Government-forced swap of power stations between State-owned power companies could damage Meridian Energy’s carbon-neutral status.
OBITUARY: Kiwi pioneered biochar research
4 Dec 2009
A New Zealander who was a world pioneer in advocating the use of biochar to sequester carbon has died en route to the international climate change talks in Copenhagen.
ASX green move means good news for NZ
9 Oct 2009
A move by ASX into the green economy will be good for New Zealanders and New Zealand emitters, says local carbon trader Nigel Brunel.
Renewable power runs at 70 per cent
18 Sep 2009
Seventy per cent of New Zealand's electricity generation in the June quarter came from renewable sources.
Bio-oil from wood trials excite backers
21 Aug 2009
New Zealand’s first wood-to-bio-oil plant is proving the technology is viable, its backers say.
Pioneer Pers is making waves in Denmark
21 Aug 2009
Reporter Angela Gregory continues her series on the greening of Denmark - site of a major international climate change conference later this year.
Meridian buys US solar-farm developer
21 Aug 2009
Meridian Energy has bought an American photovoltaic solar farm developer.
Wind energy key to cutting electricity emissions
14 Aug 2009
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector will be vital in reaching the government’s 2020 reduction target, but policy certainty is needed urgently, says the New Zealand Wind Energy Association.
Crest can't get its hands on million-dollar grant
7 Aug 2009
The first recipient of the Government’s Marine Energy Deployment Fund has yet to see any of the $1.85 million it was granted in May last year because it is still going through the resource consents process for its project.
Coal pushes NZ's emissions up
24 Jul 2009
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions have risen again, with coal the biggest culprit.
Companies link to hasten biofuel production
24 Jul 2009
Two New Zealand companies are joining forces to clean up water and produce biofuel.
NZ House told to green up its act
24 Jul 2009
The EU’s impatience at New Zealand dragging its feet on implementing the ETS scheme has taken concrete form - NZ must pay to double-glaze its energy-inefficient High Commission building in London.
Straterra goes to bat for mining industry
24 Jul 2009
Straterra, the freshly minted cross-industry resources lobby, has moved into its new offices in the Contractors' Federation premises in the Wellington parliamentary precinct.
GNS sings praises of NZ oil potential
24 Jul 2009
GNS has joined Crown Minerals in being bullishly enthusiastic about New Zealand’s oil resources
Small miner puts case for use of coal
14 Jul 2009
Otago miner Kai Point Coal Co is using mass and boutique retail marketing techniques to sell its product.
Crown Minerals happy with tour of the majors
3 Jul 2009
New Zealand is emerging as one of the top global focuses for oil exploration.
Why Top Energy is sitting pretty
30 Jun 2009
Top Energy is one of the few electricity generators untroubled by uncertainty around New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme.
Emissions from power generation at low level
19 Jun 2009
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation have dropped to their lowest level in five years.
Last of the coal to be mined at Kimihia project
19 Jun 2009
Solid Energy’s re-development of its Kimihia open-cast mine near Huntly is the last phase of an intensive and expensive environmental project that has turned earlier workings into a public recreational park.
German coal move good for NZ researchers
16 Jun 2009
Accelerated investment by Germany in Australian clean coal will be of interest to New Zealand coal interests because of this country’s investment in coal emissions sequestration development over the Tasman.
Decision near on greenhouse gas emissions rules
9 Jun 2009
The rules that will govern the way in which the stationary energy processes sector works under the emissions trading scheme are nearly complete.
Coal mining takes on touch of the golden days
5 Jun 2009
Sluice mining is to be reintroduced to the West Coast for the first time since the technique was used in the gold rush era - but this time the target is coal.
We'd rather have a tax break, say biofuels producers
22 May 2009
A new government grant to encourage local biofuel production is not as good as the tax exemption bioenthanol producers get, the industry says.
Power companies' earnings 'disturb' minister
22 May 2009
Big energy companies earned $4.3 billion more in earnings between 2001 and 2007 than they would have under "competitive conditions", but the Commerce Commission says there is no evidence that they breached the Commerce Act.
Biodiesel industry gets multi-million dollar boost
19 May 2009
The biodiesel industry will receive a multi-million dollar boost over the next three years.
Consortium wins funding for wave energy device
19 May 2009
The Government has just announced that a consortium developing a device that “extracts” energy from waves is to receive $760,000 from the second round of Marine Energy Development Fund allocations.
Aquaflow keen despite poor share issue response
19 May 2009
The economic recession is not stalling algae-based biofuel company Aquaflow’s development plans, says director Vicki Buck - despite the company raising much less than expected from its recent prospectus.
Forget Australia, urges wind energy expert
19 May 2009
New Zealand shouldn’t follow Australia’s lead when it comes to pouring money into carbon capture and storage research, says Windflow’s CEO Geoff Henderson.
Analysis: Solid Energy reveals its hand
15 May 2009
Solid Energy’s decision to close its Terrace underground mine at Reefton by mid-year points up the way in which the State-owned enterprise intends to focus on the low-hanging fruit of the coal extraction business while diversifying into non-fossil energy generation.
Australians merge to boost NZ coal gas search
8 May 2009
The private Australian coal seam gas exploration company Chartwell Energy Pty, which is involved in New Zealand exploration, plans a merger with listed Brisbane company Comet Ridge partly in order to boost its activities here.
Solid Energy on trail of carbon accounting
5 May 2009
State-owned coal miner Solid Energy says it is well on the way to tracking carbon in its operations, but can’t say yet how the emissions trading scheme will affect the price of coal next year.
ETS certainty vital, says wind energy chief
1 May 2009
Certainty over the emissions trading scheme is vital to encouraging investment in new wind-energy projects, says the Wind Energy Associaton.
Genesis buying credits, but quiet on NZUs deal
24 Apr 2009
New Zealand’s largest thermal electricity generator has made forays into the carbon market – but won’t say if it was the purchaser involved in the first sale of New Zealand Units.
Origin could be player in southern coal gas
24 Apr 2009
L&M’s intensive prospecting for coal seam gas in the coal-bearing areas of Southland indicates that the durable New Zealand independent is standing by to welcome a major league partner – possibly Origin, according to some sources.
Deforestation must stop, says power company
24 Apr 2009
One of New Zealand's largest power companies is urging the Government not to do anything to encourage further deforestation.
King Solomon looking at more than gold
24 Apr 2009
The evocatively named King Solomon Mines is looking hard at boosting activities in New Zealand - and possibly beyond its core gold-mining activities.
NZ could lead in wind energy, says global expert
21 Apr 2009
New Zealand could be a world leader in the wind energy sector, developing and exporting wind turbine technology and expertise, says a visiting international expert.
Hydro dams carry concerns, says Greenpeace
17 Apr 2009
Greenpeace says it does not oppose new hydroelectric dams in principle – but warns that building more hydro schemes will increase New Zealand’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Knock-backs no worry, says wind energy group
17 Apr 2009
The New Zealand Wind Energy Association holds its annual conference early next week against a backdrop of declined applications for new wind farms in the Tararua District and North Canterbury – but the association does not interpret the decisions as the tide turning against wind energy.
Coal-rich southern mine heads for closure
17 Apr 2009
Solid Energy’s Ohai open-cast mine in Southland is still scheduled for closure in spite of holding vast reserves of coal.
'Back-to-basics' approach for councils ignores climate risk
Fri 11 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | While ACT is standing local government candidates to oppose councils' attempts to manage emissions and ministers are calling for local authorities to 'get back to basics' - or even suggesting scrapping regional councils altogether - one expert says this narrative is putting communities at risk in the face of climate change.
Clear-sighted view to trade-offs crucial to reimagining our relationship with the land
Mon 7 Jul 2025
By Nick Swallow | COMMENT: New Zealand could see a 70% drop in the value of dairy land if we pursue our emissions targets for agriculture, according to a new report.
Mangroves' overlooked climate role
30 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s mangrove forests are pulling tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year, yet their climate benefits remain unrecognised in national emissions reporting.
How flying can be a climate solution
16 Jun 2025
By Paul Callister and Robert McLachlan - Planetary Ecology | How can aviation contribute to tackling climate change when no practicable technology-based solutions are on the horizon?
Emissions Trading Scheme needs deep reform - commissioner
Fri 11 Jul 2025
The government’s attempt to limit forestry conversions on rural land is unlikely to lead to meaningful change, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
Tue 8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
