New Zealand: Energy
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.
Blame transport, not animals, says energy expert
3 Apr 2009
World Bank and World Watch Institute renewables expert Dr Eric Martinot says that inefficient transport, not animals, is New Zealand’s major emissions problem.
Togetherness key to our bioenergy success
3 Apr 2009
Unity is a key point of difference for New Zealand’s bioenergy industry
Meridian tests Kaipara potential for wind power
31 Mar 2009
Meridian Energy is assessing the wind generation potential of a site at Pouto in the Kaipara Harbour.
Wellington eyes hydro plant at Wainuiomata
31 Mar 2009
The Greater Wellington Regional Council is evaluating a scheme to install a hydro-generator plant at its Wainuiomata water treatment plant.
Solid Energy wants action on southern lignite
27 Mar 2009
Solid Energy is keeping close tabs on legislators seeking an excuse to leave Southland’s rich lignite resources untapped.
Blue Mountain finds the BOOT fits
27 Mar 2009
Blue Mountain Lumber is proving that energy investment can be made in isolation from long-term considerations of risk surrounding the original use.
Coal turned to gold for British millionaire
24 Mar 2009
British millionaire Sir Robert Ogden’s ocean going yacht La Masquerade, which has been cruising New Zealand waters in recent weeks, is testimony to the great fortunes that can be made from coal.
Brownlee facts spur power station protesters
20 Mar 2009
Energy statistics for the last quarter of 2008 are being used to add weight to the calls for Genesis Energy to abandon its proposed power station in Kaukapakapa.
Kiwi charcoal system in line for world prize
20 Mar 2009
A New Zealand company’s carbon-capturing innovation is one five finalists in the Financial Times UK’s global Climate Change Challenge.
Wood-pellet industry resents officials’ disinterest
20 Mar 2009
The wood burner industry is annoyed that it continues to receive less-than-enthusiastic support from government sustainable agencies, including EECA.
Time right for mass home insulation, says economist
10 Mar 2009
The time is right for a recession-busting programme of infrastructure development such as mass home insulation, says a leading economist.
Electricity Commission review puts M-co at risk
6 Mar 2009
The anticipated review of the Electricity Commission is being viewed as an opportunity to overhaul the wholesale marketing of electricity in New Zealand.
Don't count on Kaukapakapa thermal plant to solve electricity woes, Genesis tells commission
3 Mar 2009
The Electricity Commission and the Rodney District Council seem to be playing cat-and-mouse over plans to increase electricity supply to Northland and Auckland.
Minister's omission worries wood fuel backers
27 Feb 2009
The bioenergy sector says it is aghast that wood fuel seems to be off the Government’s radar.
Manapouri power problems worry Government
27 Feb 2009
The inflexibility of power from the Manapouri hydro station is causing headaches for the new government.
NZ firms chase slice of Obama's clean-energy billions
24 Feb 2009
New Zealand companies are in the United States in a bid to win a share of the $300 billion the US government is pouring into renewable energies.
Invasive jatropha might have dodged NZ security net
24 Feb 2009
The potentially invasive biofuel crop Jatropha curcas may have slipped through New Zealand’s biosecurity defences.
Costs slow action on fixing Cook Strait cables
24 Feb 2009
Increased borrowing is being blamed for political reticence for what many believe is the nation’s top infrastructure priority – replacing the Cook Strait power cables.
New approach to electricity governance recommended
24 Feb 2009
A review of the electricity sector recommends a new approach to regulation.
Green light for New Zealand’s first Solar City Pilot
24 Feb 2009
Developers of Nelson Solar City have announced the next stage of their project with the launch of a pilot scheme involving 25 homes and businesses.
Smith: DOC needs to be more transparent
24 Feb 2009
The Department of Conservation needs to ensure a greater degree of transparency in agreements reached over resource consents, Acting Conservation Minister Nick Smith says.
Crest gathers support for Kaipara tidal project
20 Feb 2009
Crest Energy has until next Friday to submit expert witness evidence to the Environment Court in support of its plan to build a tidal power project on the Kaipara Harbour.
GNS sees big benefits in geothermal link with Japan
20 Feb 2009
New Zealand's GNS appears to be in the wings in a strategy by Japan to massively boost its geothermal generating capacity.
Mission sparks high-level interest in marine energy
20 Feb 2009
A recent UK mission on renewable energy has prompted the government take another look at New Zealand’s marine energy potential.
Aquaflow confident of getting $20m from investors
17 Feb 2009
Aquaflow, New Zealand’s biofuel-from-algae pioneer, says it is confident it will get the money it wants to commercialise its technology.
Capital fast-tracks tidal turbine trial
17 Feb 2009
The surge in objections to large-scale commercial wind farms has been a factor in the fast-tracking by Wellington Regional Council of a scheme to trial a tidal turbine near the capital.
Regional council gives thumbs down to jatropha
13 Feb 2009
A regional council charged with protecting 1.25 million hectares of New Zealand says we shouldn’t grow jatropha.
Scientist pioneers cheaper solar cells
13 Feb 2009
A research scientist with Industrial Research Limited has applied nano technology via quantum dots to produce more efficient solar cells that are designed become a composite part of the roofs of houses.
Kiwis a bit short on good ideas, UK expert says
10 Feb 2009
A British marine energy expert says New Zealand is lacking ideas and needs to do more to support the emergence of the marine energy industry.
Capital scraps over windfarms in parks
10 Feb 2009
Greater Wellington Regional Council’s commitment to sustainable energy is wavering in the face of protests from residents who see wind farms as environmental pollution.
Wellington to stage micro-turbines trials
10 Feb 2009
Energy distributor Vector Ltd has signed a joint venture with Scottish company Renewable Devices Swift Turbines, which manufactures micro-wind turbines.
Learn from us, says UK renewables expert
3 Feb 2009
New Zealand could take a leaf out of the British government’s book and provide incentives if it seriously wants to encourage the development of renewable energy technology, says a visiting expert.
JATROPHA: Toxic seeds could fool children
30 Jan 2009
The toxic seed of the jatropha plant – used to make biofuel - might be attractive to children, warns a New Zealand scientist.
Farmers fear fuel-source jatropha will kill stock
27 Jan 2009
Plans to grow the biofuel stock plant jatropha in New Zealand could run into opposition from farmers who fear it could kill their animals and become another “gorse”.
NZ could pay the price for Australian energy targets
27 Jan 2009
Australia’s mandatory renewable energy target of 20 per cent by 2020 could cost New Zealand investment dollars.
Biofuels a sham, says Goldsmith's ecology magazine
27 Jan 2009
The Wellington-based Pacific Institute of Resource Management - the Australasian arm of millionaire environmentalist Teddy Goldsmith - is denouncing the push for sustainable biofuels as the “most appalling sham.”
Australia better investment bet than NZ, says Trustpower
23 Jan 2009
Confusion over New Zealand policies is making Australia a better place in which to invest in renewable energy projects, says Trustpower.
Anxious Asian buyers try to rewrite NZ coal deals
23 Jan 2009
Export prices of US$300 per tonne fixed last year from Solid Energy’s Stockton mine and from the NZX-listed Pike River mine are under push-back from Asian consignees.
ETS puts NZ power users $360m behind Australia
20 Jan 2009
New Zealand electricity users are at a $360 million-a-year disadvantage when compared with our transtasman neighbours, thanks to the emissions trading scheme.
Timber plant pioneers geothermal sequestration
20 Jan 2009
A Taupo timber-processing plant is using a pioneering method of applied sequestration.
British developers keen to work with NZ on clean energy
20 Jan 2009
A UK-to-New Zealand mission on renewable and clean energy due to be held in Wellington from February 2 to 6 aims to encourage collaboration between researchers and developers working in the sector.
Environment Court confirms Mahinerangi windfarm
22 Dec 2008
The Environment Court has confirmed the resource consent conditions for TrustPower's proposed Mahinerangi Windfarm.
Greenpeace New Zealand Inc v Genesis Power Ltd
22 Dec 2008
Here is the Supreme Court judgement on the Greenpeace versus Gensis Power climate change case.
'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.
