Topics tagged with 'Energy'
Everybody join the fight, says United States
30 Apr 2008
A national campaign to help Americans to join in the fight against climate change has been launched by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Club Tower development reaches for five-star rating
30 Apr 2008
Latitude Group’s Club Tower in Worcester Boulevard is aiming to be the first building in the South Island to be awarded the much-coveted five-star Green Star NZ building rating.
UN chief raps Asia-Pacific for dragging the chain
30 Apr 2008
The Asia-Pacific region is lagging behind in providing access to energy services, says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Fine-tuning of emissions trading policies recommended
30 Apr 2008
The Government is being advised to strengthen measures to enhance energy efficiency and provide clear national guidelines to protect natural resources from potential degradation as it moves to address the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
Green Party wants commonsense emissions trading policies
30 Apr 2008
Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons welcomes the release of the Cawthron Institute's environmental assessement of the emissions trading policy.
High-powered leadership group endorses emissions trading scheme
29 Apr 2008
A high-powered group of business and community leaders has endorsed the concept of an emissions-trading scheme in New Zealand as a way of managing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saying the impact on the economy will be minimal.
CarboNZero for small enterprises a hit
29 Apr 2008
Small businesses are as keen - if not keener – than large companies to go carbon neutral, if response to New Zealand’s first internationally-accredited scheme for small businesses is anything to go by.
KPMG: Six sectors have "heads in sand" over climate change risks
29 Apr 2008
Aviation, healthcare, oil and gas, tourism, transport, and the financial services sectors have been accused of putting their head in the sand over climate change risks by a major new report from consultancy KPMG.
Wholesale electricity prices fall on last month
29 Apr 2008
Wholesale electricity prices were last week down compared with a month ago.
Climate Change Leadership Forum backs emissions trading scheme
29 Apr 2008
The Climate Change Leadership Forum, including 34 business and other sector leaders, has issued 10 key points of policy advice made so far to the Government and Finance and Expenditure Select Committee on the proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS).
If you send more e-mail do you produce less carbon?
29 Apr 2008
Research currently underway at Sun Microsystems is trying to measure the carbon footprint of individual e-mails, BusinessGreen reports.
New report: Power utilities could make efficiency impovements of up to 11%
29 Apr 2008
Energy efficiency improvements in the U.S. electric power sector could reduce electricity consumption by 7 to 11 percent more than currently projected over the next two decades.
Tougher energy efficiency rules for hot water systems
29 Apr 2008
Home owners are set to save money through strengthened energy efficiency rules for new hot water systems, according to Building and Construction Minister Shane Jones.
OptiSolar applies to build world's biggest (16 sq km) solar farm
29 Apr 2008
Solar energy specialist OptiSolar (http://www.optisolar.com/) has revealed plans to build the world's largest solar farm at a site in California stretching over nearly ten square miles (16 sq km).
Vector sells Wellington network to CKI
29 Apr 2008
Vector Limited (VCT) yestoday announced the sale of its Wellington electricity network to Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited (CKI) for $785 million.
Greens oppose proposed lines company sale
29 Apr 2008
The Green Party has criticsed the propsed sale of Wellington's lines company to overseas interests.
NZ First: Keep energy companies
29 Apr 2008
The sale of Vector’s Wellington electricity network to Cheung Kong Infrastructure for $785 million represents the serious loss of yet another local asset, says New Zealand First economic development spokesman Doug Woolerton.
$200 million boost for poor farmers to help face food crisis
29 Apr 2008
The United Nations rural development arm announced today that it is providing up to $200 million for poor farmers during the upcoming cropping season as it tries to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of millions of people facing hunger and malnutrition due to soaring food prices.
Woodhouse ready for commercialised carbon trade-off
28 Apr 2008
Low-key investor Seeby Woodhouse indicated at several closed-door discussions in Wellington and Auckland last week that he would step into carbon trading as a kind of one-man carbon exchange and clearing house.
CO2 breakthrough ‘turns waste into gold’
28 Apr 2008
British scientists have pioneered a technique of recycling CO2 to reduce greenhouse gases – a process experts are saying is akin to “turning waste into gold”.
The name’s Bond … battery Bond
28 Apr 2008
If James Bond were to go green and ditch his Aston Martin, probably he would get behind the wheel of a Tesla Roadster, the hottest ride in battery-powered sportscars.
The big business question: How do we do it?
28 Apr 2008
New Zealand businesses might know that they need to do something about their environmental performance but most are struggling to know what, says a leading management consultant.
We're five times greener than the Aussies
28 Apr 2008
New Zealand businesses are almost five times "greener" than their Australian counterparts, with a new white paper finding more than half of Australian businesses have no policy to reduce energy use.
Travelling greens have a new place to stay
28 Apr 2008
Travellers with a green bent will be able to sleep with a clear conscience at an Auckland hotel which opens its doors today.
Greens cool down on coal, but still hot on emissions
24 Apr 2008
The Green Party says that closing down the coal industry will not be a bottom-line issue in post-election coalition talks - but genuine measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions will be.
Power struggle as top energy companies go to war
24 Apr 2008
Two of our biggest power companies are at war for the wallets of the rapidly growing green consumer market.
Welcome to the age of ‘black power’
24 Apr 2008
Genesis Energy might have won a round against rival TrustPower for the hearts and minds of green consumers, but it’s in danger of losing the war, warns long-time social trends analyst Jill Caldwell.
Christchurch centre starts probing methane absorbing gas molecules on sea floor
24 Apr 2008
The Centre for Advanced Engineering (CAE) in Christchurch has begun looking at the possibilities of methane-absorbing gas hydrates in New Zealand waters.
India’s eager money men study $6b carbon trading market
24 Apr 2008
Financial houses in India are excited by the news that the local market for carbon credits has been estimated at $6 billion over four years.
UN honours climate change ‘trailblazer’ Clark
24 Apr 2008
Prime Minister Helen Clark has been honoured as a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations for her work on climate change.
Green Party pledges to shut Huntly, hobble coal industry
23 Apr 2008
The Green Party is threatening to end thermal coal exports and close the Huntly coal-fired power stations.
ANALYSIS: Potential political fall out from Green’s shock coal policy
23 Apr 2008
The Greens are viewed by many New Zealanders as “extreme” and offering policies which are too restrictive.
UK expert says NZ policy "a brave experiment", warns world not moving fast enough
23 Apr 2008
One of the UK’s leading climate change commentators calls New Zealand’s decision to include agriculture and forest sinks in its emissions trading regime “a brave experiment”.
International Science Festival - July 5-13, 2008 - Dunedin
23 Apr 2008
The debate over whether New Zealand is better of with large or small wind-turbines will feature in the New Zealand International Science Festival in Dunedin in July.
Farming leadership criticised: industry at enormous risk
22 Apr 2008
New Zealand’s former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is calling for a radical rethink of our farming sector in the face of potential famine from climate change and world shortages of food, water and good-quality soils.
Parker: No emissions credits for new renewable power plant developers
22 Apr 2008
Climate Change Minister David Parker says those building new renewable power stations won’t be rewarded with extra carbon credits under the proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS).
It's not so bad - a Carbon News series on mitigating the impact of emissions trading down on the farm
22 Apr 2008
Fancy a wind turbine in the back paddock? It could be worth about $75,000 a year - a major boost to property profits.
Fewer US citizens expect severe climate change
22 Apr 2008
As the United States gets ready to celebrate Earth Day 2008, attitudes towards global warming are little changed from last year. Sixty-seven percent of Americans believe the activities of human beings are contributing to an increase in global temperatures, according to a survey by Harris Interactive.
Weekly analysis: EUA-Dec08 reaches 10-months high, breaks 25 euro barrier
22 Apr 2008
Bullish gas and crude support EU Allowances – sCER-Dec08 moves sideways at EUR 16.30
Successfully enticing solution seeker consumers to grocery stores
22 Apr 2008
By Patti Marshman-Goldblatt, Senior Vice President, NMI - As grocery outlets try to lure customers by offering greater selection, price reductions and differentiating shopping experiences; environmentally- and socially-conscious philosophies are key factors to the LOHAS consumer.
Democracy undermined by spying
22 Apr 2008
Greenpeace says it is shocked at the arrogance shown by Gavin Clark, of Thompson and Clark Investigations (TCIL) after they were exposed for the second time trying to pay someone to spy and undermine the activities of the Save Happy Valley group.
Now for the world's first hybrid rubbish truck
22 Apr 2008
Volvo is testing two hybrid refuse trucks in regular daily operations in Sweden by refuse collection firms Renova and Ragn-Sells.
The other side of the PI story: how environmental extremists are attacking NZ companies
21 Apr 2008
The private investigations firm which tried to recruit an environmentalist to provide information last night revealed to Carbon News that several companies in New Zealand are at significant risk from extremists.
Energy’s emissions nearly match agriculture’s
21 Apr 2008
The energy sector is threatening to overtake agriculture as the biggest source of New Zealand’s carbon emissions, the latest edition of the Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows.
Greens on NZ emissions: When will we turn the corner?
21 Apr 2008
The Green Party says news that New Zealand's greenhouse emissions have continued to rise, though not as fast as previously, is still not good enough.
NZ emissions up .5 million tonnes in 2006
21 Apr 2008
The latest annual greenhouse gas inventory report shows New Zealand’s emissions rose less than 1% between 2005 and 2006.
Solid Energy and private investigators' statements on spying claims
21 Apr 2008
Carbon News provides you with the full statements issued yesterday by Solid Energy and Thompson and Clark Investigations Ltd on claims published in the Sunday Star Times.
New Government policy statement on gas governance
21 Apr 2008
nergy Minister David Parker today released the Government’s revised and updated Government Policy Statement (‘GPS’) on Gas Governance.
THE FOOD CRISIS: Long term challenges says Rice
21 Apr 2008
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr., Staff Writer,USINFO. Washington - President Bush is seeking an additional $350 million from Congress to provide immediate emergency food assistance, but the current food crisis has long-term global challenges, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Genesis to build new $420m thermal plant unless regulations say not to
18 Apr 2008
The absence of legal definitions of base-load and peaking power supply is behind Genesis Energy’s seeking resource consent for a new thermal power station north of Auckland, the Government’s planned 10-year ban not withstanding.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Climate experts say spring is coming earlier. How will that affect agriculture and ecosystems?
Today 10:45am
An earlier spring affects when migratory birds arrive, leaves emerge, and fruit ripens — among plants and animals that determine ecosystem health.
$30m airline fund risks ‘burning public money’ without lasting benefit – expert
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A $30 million government package to support regional air routes risks delivering poor value for money while increasing emissions, according to transport strategist Tim Adriaansen.
Signs of jet fuel hoarding emerge in Asia on Iran oil shock
26 Mar 2026
Signs are growing that Asian countries are hoarding jet fuel after the Iran war sent oil prices surging, reflecting growing strain on the aviation industry.
New protections for NZ migratory species under UN convention
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New international protections for migratory species, including several found in New Zealand, are a positive step – but global protections won’t halt the decline of migratory species on their own, experts say.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
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.
Supply-side pressures and political uncertainty ahead for carbon market
Today 10:45am
By Kristen Green | ANALYSIS: With failed auctions, a surge of new forestry registrations, and an election a few months away, the NZ ETS in 2026 will be subject to a mix of supply-side pressures and political uncertainty.
Fast-track approved project could deliver NZ’s largest wind farm
Today 10:45am
Media release: New Zealand Government |Fast-track approval has been granted for New Zealand’s largest wind farm project.
Economic contraction will impact carbon market
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | While higher fossil fuel prices strengthen the long-run economics of decarbonisation, the current fuel crisis won’t inspire near-term confidence in the carbon market, according to Lizzie Chambers of Carbon Match.
Asia ramps up use of dirty fuels to cover energy shortfall triggered by Iran war
Thu 2 Apr 2026
South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plants
Death toll in Afghanistan flooding increases to 28, authorities say
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Afghan authorities said Monday that the death toll from severe weather that has struck swathes of the country over the past four days has increased to 28, with 49 people injured. Dozens of people have died from extreme weather in the country so far this year.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
A matter of strategy
Today 10:45am
COMMENT: Even on the brink of a global commodities crisis, the possibilities for climate action aren't hopelessly foreclosed. Strategy can turn our fortunes around, writes David Hall.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Labour mulls GIDI 2.0 as factory closures mount
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Factory closures across the country could have been prevented if the last Labour-led government’s GIDI fund to assist companies with the cost of electrification hadn't been scrapped, Labour energy spokesperson, Megan Woods, says.
RMA to speed up fossil fuel consents
18 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | An energy lobby group has welcomed a last-minute amendment to the RMA that puts fossil fuels on the same footing as renewables, however a sustainable energy expert says the move “beggars belief.”
FMA to ease conditions for green bond issues
31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Green, social and sustainability-linked bonds will face lower disclosure requirements and regulatory costs under a class exemption newly granted by the Financial Markets Authority.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
Media round-up
20 Mar 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Crown lawyers agree High Court could quash emissions plan if found unlawful; NZ is locked in 'disaster inertia'; and climate change is notably absent from new development laws.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
19 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s controversial changes to New Zealand’s legal framework for climate policy have thrown a spanner in the works for a long-running Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into climate change.
Lawyers complain to ombudsman over Govt failure to release LNG modelling
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman over the Government’s failure to release information about its controversial decision to build a LNG import terminal.
Cleantech expo coming to Auckland
26 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s first national cleantech expo is set to bring together 30 innovators, in what organisers say is the country’s fastest growing area in the tech sector.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
27 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has pledged an additional $20 million to climate resilience work in Tuvalu, more than doubling Aotearoa's aid to the tiny island nation in the current financial year.
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.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Watts’s last stand: Simeon Brown takes energy portfolio
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Energy Minister Simon Watts has lost the portfolio to Cabinet fixer Simeon Brown in a reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this morning.
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
25 Mar 2026
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Opposition in Golden Bay to a controversial gold mine at Sams Creek has flared up over the weekend after several activists briefly occupied a drilling site.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
Media round-up
Thu 2 Apr 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The widening political gap is deepening cracks in NZ's climate consensus, Christchurch recorded more than 30,000 extra cycling trips over two weeks, and is the energy crisis a renewable inflection point?
Sci-tech prioritisation report is a joke that could cost NZ dearly, says NZ Association of Scientists
Thu 2 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Association of Scientists | The Prioritisation Report released yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Science Innovation and Technology Council makes a poor case for further cuts and changes to our research system.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
AI’s arrival complicates Big Tech climate goals, and some worry it’s locking in more fossil fuels
Thu 2 Apr 2026
Six years ago, Google was confident that by 2030 it would power all operations with electricity generated from clean sources, including wind and solar power, and remove as much pollution as it produced. Today it calls those goals a “moonshot.” Microsoft says it’s still aiming to remove more carbon than it creates by 2030 but now describes the effort as “a marathon, not a sprint.”
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
Fuel crisis powers surge in EV interest in Asia-Pacific region
Today 10:45am
Motorists across the Asia-Pacific region are switching to electric vehicles at a rapid pace, as rising fuel costs due to the Middle East war force consumers and companies to reconsider their reliance on petrol and diesel vehicles.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
Dairy farmers' lack of climate action 'even bleaker' than water inaction – Upton
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government projections for cutting agricultural emissions are being undermined by low farmer uptake, with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warning the country is relying on “heroic” assumptions to meet its methane targets.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Record wind output helps shield the UK from worst of Iran war fallout
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Record output from wind farms has helped boost total clean power supplies in the United Kingdom to new highs so far in 2026, and allowed power firms to pare use of fossil fuels to multi-year lows.
