New Zealand: All stories
Brownlee's biofuels backdown hurts tallow pioneer
16 Jan 2009
Biofuel manufacturer Biodiesel Oils says that the forced mothballing of its Waikato tallow-to-diesel plant is affecting its ability to sell its technology overseas.
No takers with emissions trading review a month away
16 Jan 2009
Submissions on the review of New Zealand emissions trading scheme close on February 13 - and so far none have been made.
Solid Energy: NZIER report all we funded
16 Jan 2009
Solid Energy says that the NZIER report on the implications of the emissions trading scheme is the only work it has funded on the issue.
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.
Confused forest owners keep planting plans on hold
19 Dec 2008
The Government’s announcement that it will not now suspend the emissions trading scheme will not get forest owners planting again, they say.
ETS select committee opens for business
19 Dec 2008
Submissions on the review of the emissions trading scheme are now open.
No suspension of ETS - what the PM said
19 Dec 2008
On Wednesday, Prime Minister John Key told Parliament that the Government would not now suspend the emissions trading scheme.
Shipowners seek rewards for cutting emissions
19 Dec 2008
The New Zealand shipping industry wants rewards built into the emissions trading scheme for companies that cut greenhouse gas emissions from their fleets.
Season's greetings - and thanks from Carbon News
19 Dec 2008
Carbon News publishes 48 weeks of the year.
Oil company could be mystery buyer of GNS software
19 Dec 2008
Crown agency GNS has sold a software package for at least $1 million to an unnamed company.
The new slavery - some say it's time to face up to the curse of oil
19 Dec 2008
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sees dependence on oil as the modern version of slavery.
Board of inquiry into Turitea wind farm proposal
19 Dec 2008
Environment Minister Nick Smith today announced his decision to refer the Mighty River Power proposal for a 131-turbine wind farm at Turitea, near Palmerston North, to an independent Board of Inquiry.
PM indicates ETS law will not be suspended during review
18 Dec 2008
The Prime Minister has indicated the ETs law will not be suspended during the select committee review.
Aquaflow eyes world-first algae biofuel flight
16 Dec 2008
The world's first test-flight using Aquaflow's algae-based biofuel blend could be just months away - and it might be in New Zealand.
Dunne to bar time-wasters from ETS review hearings
16 Dec 2008
Groups wanting to relitigate the science of climate change or to grandstand on the issue are likely to find themselves shut out from appearing before the select committee reviewing the emissions trading scheme.
NZ should be backing geothermal brains, says expert
16 Dec 2008
The skills of New Zealand scientists and engineers in the area of geothermal energy could make a real difference to global climate change, says Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) regional manager Michael Shirley.
Banks praise direct selling of carbon credits
16 Dec 2008
Trust Power’s direct marketing of its own carbon credits is being applauded in banking circles.
Ministry extends time for carbon-reporting comments
16 Dec 2008
The deadline for commenting on rules governing the way in which New Zealand’s largest industrial emitters of greenhouse gases report their carbon levels has been extended.
Brownlee urgently wipes thermal ban and biofuel requirement
16 Dec 2008
Laws requiring oil companies to sell biofuel and banning the building of new non-baseload thermal power stations are expected to be gone by the end of the week.
Crown Minerals taking oil offers to Asia
16 Dec 2008
Crown Minerals is to hit the road - specifically, the Silk Road - to generate interest in its new set of bidding rounds.
National will have an ETS, says Brownlee
12 Dec 2008
National will bring in an emissions trading scheme, says Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee.
Brownlee decision disappoints biofuel makers
12 Dec 2008
The Government’s decision to repeal the obligation placed on oil companies to sell a certain proportion of biofuel has polarised opinion in the biofuel sector.
Lightbulb move angers NZ manufacturer
12 Dec 2008
A Christchurch manufacturer of eco-lightbulbs is mad over Government plans to phase-out incandescent bulbs.
Forest owners 'positive' after meeting new minister
12 Dec 2008
The forestry sector is waiting to see how its new minister converts his understanding of issues facing the industry into action.
Environmental sustainability key issue, say advisers
12 Dec 2008
Environmental sustainability is now a central issue for New Zealand, say top government advisers.
Harawira tries again to link treaty and ETS
12 Dec 2008
The Maori Party is again trying to get the impact on Treaty of Waitangi settlements included in the emissions trading scheme.
Ministry wants to know plans for electric cars
12 Dec 2008
The Ministry of Transport wants to know whether the new government supports plans to make New Zealand one of the first countries in the world to shift to electric cars.
Hugh Green: Contractor turns oil and gas hunter
12 Dec 2008
Little-known outside the contracting business in which he made his fortune, Irish-born Hugh Green has quietly become New Zealand’s pre-eminent independent oil and gas explorer.
Government does not support any form of mandatory bio fuel obligation
12 Dec 2008
Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee yesterday tabled in Parliament a Bill to repeal the obligation placed on oil companies to sell a certain proportion of biofuel.
ETS review committee announced
9 Dec 2008
The ETS review is shaping as a bun-fight, with Rodney Hide, David Carter and Jeanette Fitzsimons all on the committee that will do the work.
Smith: we want consensus on climate change
9 Dec 2008
Climate Change Minister Nick Smith says he wants New Zealand to build a broader consensus on how to make progress on climate-change issues.
Chauvel: Hide failed to show for the last select committee
9 Dec 2008
Labour says that Act Party leader Rodney Hide has some gall pushing a new select committee inquiry into the emissions trading scheme when he hardly showed up for the last one.
Dunne at the helm: We need an ETS quickly
9 Dec 2008
New Zealand needs a robust emissions trading scheme in place as quickly as possible to reassure businesses and shore-up our international credibility, says the man who will chair the ETS review.
Buck: Forget ETS review, we're nearly out of time
9 Dec 2008
A New Zealander named in Britain as one of the 50 people most able to prevent the continued destruction of the world says that New Zealand doesn’t have the luxury of “forgetting” about climate change while it reviews its legislative direction.
DOC has carbon credits deal for private companies
9 Dec 2008
The Department of Conservation is offering carbon credits to private companies involved in joint-venture forestry-regeneration projects.
Foresters have high hopes for Kyoto proposal
9 Dec 2008
New Zealand foresters will soon be able to gauge international reaction to their push for key changes to the regulations for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.
Wairarapa pine planters mourn loss of ETS millions
9 Dec 2008
Wairarapa’s long-established pine forests would have generated the best part of $5 million for their owners if the emissions trading scheme had gone ahead, says carbon trader Greenair.
At last, forest owners get a date with the minister
9 Dec 2008
Representatives from the forestry industry will finally have an opportunity to put their concerns over delays to the emissions trading scheme to the new Minister for Climate Change Issues, Nick Smith, in person this week.
Oil price fall poses problem for exploration
9 Dec 2008
The fall this week of Brent Crude to $37 a barrel is a further disincentive to oil exploration at a time when at least one New Zealand producer has been caught without forward price cover.
World listens to NZ forest owners' Kyoto case
5 Dec 2008
New Zealand forest owners have made a key advance in their efforts to advocate for Kyoto Protocol regulations to be altered to allow for land-use change.
Emissions scheme 'sound', but Treasury issues warning
5 Dec 2008
Treasury says that the emissions trading scheme is sound, and warns that giving “generous treatment” to emitters would simply transfer the costs to taxpayers.
We should put a price on water, says Treasury
5 Dec 2008
Treasury is floating the prospect of a market price for water.
Wait for trading road to clear, foresters told
5 Dec 2008
Forest owners are being advised to wait out the current period of emissions trading uncertainty amid calls for the carbon trading sector to be regulated.
UK airport tax 'reprisal' for NZ stand on food miles
5 Dec 2008
Britain’s $240-a-head airport surcharge scheme amounts to a reprisal against New Zealand's stance on the food miles issue, some industry sources believe.
Westport coal export scheme could save port
5 Dec 2008
L&M Coal’s export scheme mooted for an area just northeast of Westport shows signs of revitalising the town's port, which has been hit by the rail freight alternative to ship through Lyttelton.
ETS review could damage farming, says Pedersen
2 Dec 2008
Former farming leader Charlie Pedersen, who championed the need for agriculture to be in the New Zealand emissions trading scheme even though he felt isolated and unsupported, is warning that the farming sector could be damaged by the review of the climate change and the ETS.
Aquaflow woos big international players
2 Dec 2008
New Zealand’s biofuel-from-algae pioneer is talking to two major international corporations about investment.
Foresters fear trading advice is a waste of time
2 Dec 2008
The forestry industry fears that the wrong kind of advice is stepping in to fill the vacuum left by the new government as forest owners struggle to come to terms with what New Zealand’s potential emissions trading turn-around might mean.
British bulldog snarls Kyoto message Downunder
2 Dec 2008
A strong coded message is being sent from No 10 Downing Street to government heads in New Zealand and Australia: do not deviate from your planned commitments to Kyoto.
Local govt shake-up risks weakened environmental outcomes – Commissioner
Fri 27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s push to simplify local government is "deeply flawed" and has been launched without a clear understanding of which functions must remain regional, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Gisborne leads NZ in solar battery uptake as resilience drives demand
Wed 4 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Battery storage is rapidly moving from add-on to mainstream in New Zealand’s residential solar market, with 2025 data showing stark regional differences in uptake, according to new analysis.
Govt's solar on farms initiative to cut costs, boost resilience
17 Feb 2026
Farms across Aotearoa will begin installing solar panels and battery systems as part of a government-backed demonstration programme designed to test whether on-farm renewable energy can reduce electricity costs and improve energy security for the food and fibre sector.
Annual emissions fell to lowest in 15 years in Sept 2025
5 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to their lowest annual total in the year to September 2025 since records began 2010, according to Statistics New Zealand data published this morning.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
Tue 3 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Tairāwhiti needs proper Govt support to heal the land – not empty announcements for political optics
24 Feb 2026
OPINION: The Government’s answer to Tairāwhiti’s severe erosion crisis – that the region apply for modest, contestable funding rounds – while rejecting the region's own land transition business case, leaves our long-term resilience hanging in the balance, writes Manu Caddie.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
