Topics tagged with 'Biofuels'
Biodiesel grants scheme briefings
22 May 2009
MAY 22 - Official briefings on the Government's new biodeisel grants scheme and how to qualify for grants are planned in in three main centres from May 22.
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.
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.
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.
Ethanol test for Obama backing science over politics
12 May 2009
President Barack Obama's commitment to take on climate change and put science over politics is about to be tested as his administration faces a politically sensitive question about the widespread use of ethanol: Does it help or hurt the fight against global warming?
Carbon rules make it hard, says airline industry
8 May 2009
Carbon trading and increased regulation could hinder efforts to reduce aircraft greenhouse gas emissions through innovation and increased use of biofuels, airline industry leaders said this week.
Business leaders: emissions trading policy delays causing major investment blight
5 May 2009
Business leaders told the Parliamentary select committee reviewing the emissions trading scheme yesterday that indecision is stalling hundreds of millions in investments in sectors which will both benefit from or fear having a price of carbon.
Gull wants fixed carbon price after ETS
1 May 2009
Independent oil company Gull has asked the emissions trading scheme review committee to set the price of carbon for at least the first 18 months after the liquid fuel sector enters the ETS.
Obama launches push for green revolution
24 Apr 2009
United States President Barack Obama has launched his push for a green energy revolution and to pass historic climate change legislation, making his pitch from a wind energy factory on Earth Day.
Baroness slams dual-purpose biofuel crops
7 Apr 2009
British House of Lords crossbencher Baroness Caroline Cox, often described as the “voice for the voiceless” for her work in exposing slavery, says that bio fuel must be derived from vegetation specifically grown for that purpose.
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
Carbon emissions trading core of US clean energy bill
3 Apr 2009
Congressional Democrats this week released clean energy legislation that establishes a market-based cap-and-trade programme for reducing global warming pollution from electric utilities, oil companies, and factories that together are responsible for 85 per cent of US greenhouse gas emissions.
Airlines fear failure of global climate talks
3 Apr 2009
Major airlines have warned that failure to agree on a global approach to emissions trading in climate change talks could hurt their industry by leading to increased taxes and regulation.
Biofuels and e-car experts in capital talks
24 Mar 2009
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee will open EECA’s fifth biofuels and electric vehicles conference in Wellington this morning, kicking off a programme strong on international perspectives.
Backlash as Shell cuts renewables business
20 Mar 2009
Royal Dutch Shell has provoked a furious backlash from campaigners by announcing plans to scale back its renewable energy business and focus purely on oil, gas and biofuels.
Mapp urges biofuel crops for our badlands
13 Mar 2009
Crown Research Minister Wayne Mapp says that the parts of New Zealand unsuitable for growing food should be cultivated for biofuels.
Biofuels bad news for third world, ecologists warn
10 Mar 2009
Having large numbers of motorists switch to biofuels would be “bad news for the planet and for many millions of third world people suffering through the expansion of agrofuels to feed the rich world's cars", warns the Pacific Institute of Resource Management.
Australian researchers claim algae breakthrough
10 Mar 2009
Australian researchers say they have scored a world first by being able to quantify algae’s ability to sequester greenhouse gas.
Prime Minister further undermining progress on climate change: Labour
6 Mar 2009
The withdrawal by Greenpeace on Wednewday from the ETS Review Select Committee, when it learned of John Key's latest position on climate change science, puts progress in this area at further risk, says Labour spokesperson for Climate Change Charles Chauvel.
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.
Obama's commitment to ETS a signal to NZ
27 Feb 2009
A renewed strong commitment to introduce emissions trading by US President Barrack Obama sends New Zealand a signal to get on with implementing its own ETS scheme and securing the country’s trade and tourism, says the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.
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.
Green billions fertilise Obama’s economic package
24 Feb 2009
The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President Barack Obama will create green jobs, new Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson says.
Britons beat the petrol price thanks to fish and chips
24 Feb 2009
As he has done frequently over the past 18 months, a man drives his blue diesel Peugeot 205 on to a farm near Nuneaton, England, where signs pointed one way for “eggs” and another for “oil.”
UN urges green revolution to rescue the world’s hungry
20 Feb 2009
Unless major changes are made - including the way food is produced, handled and disposed of around the world - last year’s food crisis which plunged millions back into hunger may foreshadow an even bigger crisis in the years to come, the UN has warned.
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.
Global warming worse than we thought, say scientists
17 Feb 2009
The pace of global warming is likely to be much faster than recent predictions, because industrial greenhouse gas emissions have increased more quickly than expected, according to scientists.
Biofuels might speed up global warming, says study
17 Feb 2009
The use of crop-based biofuels could speed up rather than slow down global warming by fueling the destruction of rainforests, scientists warn in a just-released report.
Clean energy at crossroads as firms cut plans and staff
17 Feb 2009
Green companies are in retreat, with a wave of staff layoffs and production cuts that could have dire consequences for government efforts to fight climate change by quickly bringing low-carbon power projects on stream.
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.
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.
JATROPHA: Everyone should plant it, says grower
30 Jan 2009
All New Zealand farmers should have four to five hectares planted in jatropha as a way of protecting themselves against the impacts of peak oil, says an Auckland landowner.
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”.
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.”
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.
Nats to trash public recycling bins, says Greens
16 Jan 2009
The Green Party says that it is dismayed to learn from sources that the National-Act-Maori Government is planning to eliminate funding to the Love NZ public recycling bins in the 2009/10 Budget.
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.
Biofuels obligation removed
19 Dec 2008
Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee has welcomed the passing of the biofuel law, describing it as a pragmatic environmental step.
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.
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.
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.
Climate experts begin to doubt renewables, says survey
12 Dec 2008
Support for renewable energy technology to fight global warming is weakening in the face of worldwide economic problems and the true scale of the carbon reductions required, a new survey has suggested.
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.
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.
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.
Aquaflow woos big international players
2 Dec 2008
New Zealand’s biofuel-from-algae pioneer is talking to two major international corporations about investment.
Crash delays Air NZ biofuel test flight
2 Dec 2008
Air New Zealand has postponed tomorrow's biofuel test flight to early January in the wake of the crash of one of its aircraft in France.
FORUM: How the world will look in 2025
28 Nov 2008
A report by the Atlantic Council, an American non-partisan think tank The international system - as constructed following the Second World War - will be almost unrecognizable by 2025 owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalising economy, an historic transfer of relative wealth and economic power from West to East, and the growing influence of nonstate actors.
Governments must vote in favour of moratorium on deep sea mining
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Media release - Greenpeace | The 30th session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has ended with Greenpeace saying governments are continuing to fall short in protecting the deep sea.
Does NZ need a national incentive scheme for wetlands?
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | An expert is calling for a national incentive programme to restore New Zealand’s wetlands and wants to stop schemes to drain these vital carbon-sequestering ecosystems.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
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.
Airlines risk legal challenges by advertising jet fuel as “sustainable”, NGO warns
18 Jul 2025
Amid suspected fraud in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a new report says the airline industry should stop calling all alternatives to kerosene “sustainable”.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
Tue 29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
Trump administration moves to repeal scientific declaration on dangers of greenhouse gases
Today 10:45am
In one of its most significant reversals on climate policy to-date, the Trump administration on Tuesday proposed to repeal a 2009 scientific finding that human-caused climate change endangers human health and safety.
Bearish sentiment lingers for carbon market
11 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The compliance carbon market could be set for a gradual upward trajectory, however unsold volume from the quarterly Emissions Trading Scheme auctions continues to act as ‘a price ceiling,’ according to an expert.
Multi-day protest continues at coal mine
Wed 30 Jul 2025
Bathurst Resources has been forced to truck coal from its Stockton mine as climate activists occupy coal buckets at the mine for a third day.
Forestry can be a big plus for sheep and beef farmers – but there are caveats
22 Jul 2025
By Keith Woodford | OPINION: These are good times for sheep and beef farmers with record product prices for meat, which is precisely why now is the time for sheep and beef farmers to be looking again at farm forestry.
Common low-grade clay strengthens low-carbon concrete
5 Jun 2025
Media release | Engineers at RMIT University have converted low-grade clay into a high-performance cement supplement, opening a potential new market in sustainable construction materials.
Cuts to climate finance put exports in jeopardy: Lawyers
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has halved international climate finance, a move aid organisations describe as “devastating,” and which lawyers say could put our Paris Agreement commitments and export market access at risk.
NZ voluntary carbon market’s sad state
14 Jul 2025
By John O’Brien | OPINION: A combination of scandals, challenging economic times, and cheaper offshore carbon credits, mean that the domestic voluntary carbon market in New Zealand remains absolutely tiny.
A modest geothermal strategy
Today 10:45am
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has unveiled a far more modest geothermal energy strategy than its primary backer, Resources Minister Shane Jones, had sought.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
2025 on track to be second or third warmest year on record
Today 10:45am
As it passes its midway point, 2025 is on track to be the second or third warmest year on record. However, it is very unlikely to beat 2024 as the hottest year.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
Wilding pines threaten Molesworth Station
Mon 28 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Without increased support, the unchecked spread of wilding pines will continue to creep across Marlborough’s high country – putting iconic landscapes and one of New Zealand’s top five biodiversity hotspots at serious risk, according to an expert.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
Today 10:45am
By Liz Kivi | The government is expected to repeal the oil and gas ban today, with a last-minute amendment handing discretionary power to two ministers over the controversial issue of decommissioning.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
European Central Bank to consider 'climate factor' when lending to banks
Today 10:45am
The European Central Bank will add climate change considerations to its lending operations from late 2026, raising pressure on banks to channel financing towards greener sectors as the euro zone seeks to reduce its carbon footprint.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Media release - Earth Sciences New Zealand | A world-first study of marine life, including sea creatures found in New Zealand's dark, cold, pressurised ocean depths, has revealed that deep-sea life is surprisingly more connected than previously thought.
‘Ideological sludge’: How NZ is quiet quitting climate action
17 Jul 2025
New Zealand once stood out as a world leader on climate change. In June it became the first country in the world to abandon a commitment to phase out oil, gas and coal.
Methanex closure comes early this year
14 May 2025
The almost-now-annual closure of Methanex has come earlier this year, giving more confidence that the electricity system will get through the winter without a fuel shortfall.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
Tue 29 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Green hydrogen pioneer Hiringa Energy is deep in planning to develop an “eight-to-nine figure” methanol plant near Whanganui, using a combination of biomass and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
Climate catastrophes are creating a ‘new market reality’ for insurance carriers
23 Jul 2025
Raging wildfires and severe storms contributed to record-high global insurance losses — totalling an estimated US$84 billion — for the first six months of the year.
Will NZ walk away from the Paris Agreement?
20 Dec 2024
By Geoff Bertram | COMMENT: Unless the government can find very cheap offshore mitigation, the temptation to walk away from its Paris Agreement obligations may well be too strong to resist for a coalition government focused on fiscal austerity.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
Fund for low emissions transport winds up
Today 10:45am
New Zealand’s Low Emission Transport Fund has officially wrapped up, ending a nine-year programme that put hundreds of millions of dollars towards accelerating the country’s shift to cleaner transport.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand is making progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but more work is needed – urgently – to set up for future reductions, according to the latest report from the Climate Change Commission.
NZ's latest climate target 'weak' – Climate Action Tracker
24 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's new international climate target to 2035 is weak, and could even allow for higher emissions than the 2030 target, according to a global scientific project that tracks government climate action.
Toxic algae are turning South Australia’s coral reefs into underwater graveyards
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Since March, a harmful algal bloom, fueled by a marine heat wave, has been choking South Australia’s coastline.
NZ govt’s fossil fuel plans could break international law
24 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government could be breaching international law with its plans to subsidise and expand fossil fuel extraction, following a ruling overnight from the world’s highest court.
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
11 Jul 2025
In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, the UK city of Exeter recently played host to the second international conference on “tipping points”.
‘Total infiltration’: How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet.
Media round-up
Fri 25 Jul 2025
In our round-up of the climate coverage in local media: Dairy conversions surge; Gore is hit with a drinking water crisis; meanwhile farming lobby groups Groundswell and Federated Farmers are up in arms about a plan to classify environmental impacts in the agriculture and forestry sector.
The EU’s ‘fantasy’ $750B energy promise to Trump
Today 10:45am
The EU has narrowly avoided a full-blown trade war with Donald Trump by pledging to buy $750 billion of U.S. oil and gas by the end of his term. But achieving that will be almost impossible.
Activists sue US development bank over $4.6bn loan to massive Mozambique gas project
18 Jul 2025
Environmental groups claim loan is ‘unlawful’ in legal filing.
Straterra has a new name: the New Zealand Minerals Council
16 Apr 2025
Media release | Straterra has been renamed as New Zealand Minerals Council, says chief executive Josie Vidal.
Tilting at windmills? Trump’s claims about turbines fact-checked
Today 10:45am
The US president has taken a swipe at wind power as the blades visible from his Turnberry golf course turn.
Ocean heatwaves may signal climate tipping point
Fri 25 Jul 2025
A recent study that tapped into satellite data has revealed that 2023 marked an unprecedented year for marine heatwaves, with record-breaking levels of duration, reach and intensity across the world's oceans.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Can robot taxis solve NZ's transport woes?
23 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Ministry of Transport has tested the idea of driverless taxis as a futuristic fix. But while new modelling explores how "robotaxis" could ease congestion and reduce car ownership, critics say it misses a crucial point – the country’s worsening transport emissions.
United Nations carbon market rules agreed but concerns remain
25 Nov 2024
New carbon market rules agreed at the fractious UN climate summit will be a relief to New Zealand and Singapore, who were leading the negotiations, but concerns about greenwashing and disadvantaging nature-based solutions remain.
EV sales fall, but it’s complicated
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Imports of fully electric vehicles fell over 50% in value during the 12 months to June 2025, compared with the year ended June 2024, according to Stats NZ.
Waste Levy risks becoming ‘slush fund’ under proposed changes – Commissioner
5 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Proposed changes to New Zealand's waste legislation risk undermining public trust in the waste levy scheme, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
