New Zealand: Energy
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.
Carbon credits sale funds heat-loss spy in the sky
17 Apr 2009
Christchurch’s sale of several million dollars of carbon credits to British Gas three years ago is providing the funds for a scheme to target heat waste miscreants by thermal imaging them.
Drilling crews busy in hunt for Southland gas
14 Apr 2009
Accommodation is booked out in the Ohai and Nightcaps coal mining districts in Southland as L&M’s drilling crews step up prospecting for coal-seam gas in the Mt Linton area.
US bank troubles could leave Transpower exposed
14 Apr 2009
Transpower’s exposure to troubled US bank Wachovia remains shrouded in a tangled skein of hedging devices and counter party vulnerability - the techniques which have brought about the nationalisation of banking in the US and the Britain.
Greens and Nats do deal over home insulation
9 Apr 2009
Subsidised home insulation is back on the agenda, with National agreeing to work on a project with the Greens.
Wairarapa wind farms win consent
9 Apr 2009
Logging’s loss in the northern Wairarapa is wind farming’s gain, with the granting of resource consent for the first of several mobile wind masts to be built east of Eketahuna.
Rainbow Warrior chief here to talk wind power
9 Apr 2009
The man who was leading the Rainbow Warrior anti-nuclear expedition when the ship was bombed in Auckland is returning to New Zealand to promote wind energy.
Commissioners knock back wind farms
7 Apr 2009
Contact Energy says it might appeal over the rejection of its plans for a 65-turbine wind farm southeast of Dannevirke.
Gene tech reforms face political split
Thu 23 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams |The Government’s Gene Technology Bill continues to divide Parliament, after the Health Select Committee released its long-awaited report last week outlining key recommendations and lingering concerns.
Council buys dairy farm to help clean up Lake Rotorua
21 Oct 2025
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has bought a 266-hectare dairy farm in the Lake Rotorua catchment and plans to retire it from production to reduce nitrogen entering the lake.
Emissions down slightly - Stats NZ
Fri 24 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Greenhouse gas emissions fell 1.5% in the June 2025 quarter, although the decline seems to reflect the economy continuing to contract rather than Aoteoroa inching towards decarbonisation goals.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
Wed 22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
Emails show forestry lobby fought Gisborne crackdown as slash clean-up drags on
26 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Sustainable land use advocates are accusing Eastland Wood Council of stonewalling efforts to tighten forestry rules, after correspondence between the group and the local council was released under the Official Information Act.
Climate reporting rollback raises risk of 'flying blind', experts warn
Today 11:30am
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government plans to drastically narrow mandatory climate disclosures may reduce compliance costs in the short term – but critics say it will leave New Zealand with major blind spots in tracking climate risk.
