Topics tagged with 'Energy'
China may meet solar, wind goals five years earlier
5 Apr 2023
China may reach its 2030 target for wind and solar energy development five years earlier than planned.
Oil and gas production in Gulf of Mexico has twice the climate impact of official estimates
5 Apr 2023
Oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico is belching out significantly higher levels of potent, planet-heating gas than previously thought, according to new research, which found the climate effects of the operations are twice that of official estimates.
Biden’s landmark climate bill lures China’s clean energy giants
3 Apr 2023
China’s leading renewables firms are joining the rush to open factories in the U.S. after Washington passed a landmark climate bill that supports local clean energy manufacturing.
National Party promises to double renewables
31 Mar 2023
The National Party today announced a new energy policy that it says will double renewable energy growth.
Australia caps major fossil fuel polluters
31 Mar 2023
Australia’s parliament has passed breakthrough climate laws targeting the nation’s worst polluters, forcing coal mines and oil refineries to curb emissions by about 5% each year.
UK Government backs first 20 green hydrogen projects
31 Mar 2023
Projects under development by Carlton Power, Octopus Hydrogen, ScottishPower, SSE Renewables and ERM Dolphyn are among those shortlisted for support under the UK Government’s electrolytic hydrogen scheme.
Global energy transition “off-track” and needs $US35 trillion by 2030
30 Mar 2023
A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has declared that the global energy transition is “off-track” and requires an influx of investment worth $US35 trillion by 2030 to ultimately be successful.
US to auction Gulf of Mexico oil under climate compromise
30 Mar 2023
The Biden administration will auction oil and gas leases across more than 114,000 square miles (295,000 square kilometres) in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in a sale mandated by last year's climate bill compromise.
Taiwan diary: Renewable energy 101
29 Mar 2023
Yi-Ting Lu and Ching-Wen Huang both started out as activists in Taiwan’s environmental movement.
Greens call for Government to close oil and gas loophole
29 Mar 2023
Media release - The Green Party is disappointed in news that NZ Petroleum and Minerals has just granted an offshore oil and gas exploration permit to Greymouth Petroleum.
Taiwan diary: The activists
28 Mar 2023
By Jeremy Rose | In 2018 climate activists in Taiwan occupied the site of a planned coal-fired power plant and stopped it being built.
How China, the U.S. and others watered down a key U.N. climate document
27 Mar 2023
China, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are among countries that significantly altered a United Nations document that will shape global climate policy for years to come, according to an account of international negotiations preceding its release.
The temptation of high oil prices is shaking Norway’s climate commitments
27 Mar 2023
Offshore oil is booming. According to the research firm, Rystad, spending on offshore oil investments exceeded $100 billion in 2022 for the first time in a decade, and will do so again in 2023 and 2024.
Best by the rest...
24 Mar 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: the Climate Change Commision wants the Government to explain why it rejected advice; meanwhile, the commission failed to win legal costs from Lawyers for Climate Action NZ; and the Labour-Green coalition is under pressure as Labour dumps climate policies.
Wind farm noise not harmful to health: New study finds no evidence of wind turbine syndrome
24 Mar 2023
A new scientific study has become the latest to debunk the theory that infrasound generated by wind farms can be harmful to human health, finding no evidence at all for the existence of what has become known as wind turbine syndrome.
Govt announces review of the ETS
23 Mar 2023
The government has announced it is reviewing the Emissions Trading Scheme to see whether it can play a stronger role in driving New Zealand’s climate response.
Slave to energy
23 Mar 2023
Carbon News editor Jeremy Rose wrote his first climate story close to to quarter of a century ago. Many of the issues remain the same today. Today we republish the story to accompany Jeremy's piece on the dilemmas of whether to travel as a climate journalist.
Future proofing EV charging
23 Mar 2023
Media release | Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand.
Lake Onslow pumped hydro doomed to fall by the wayside
22 Mar 2023
It is becoming increasingly likely the Onslow pumped hydro scheme will never even break ground.
Aussie rooftop solar payback periods are back down to near record-lows
21 Mar 2023
Rising Australian power prices are bringing rooftop solar payback periods back down towards the record low seen in 2020, almost completely wiping out the impact of higher component costs.
Biden administration pours millions into new effort to reduce methane emissions
21 Mar 2023
The Biden administration is pumping federal dollars into a new climate effort aimed at reducing methane emissions. However, they’re also facing criticism this week from environmental advocates because of a different decision.
Fossil fuel ad campaign misled Canadians, claims Competition Board complaint
21 Mar 2023
The environmental group Greenpeace has filed a complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau against a coalition of the country’s six largest oil sands producers for running what they allege is a “misleading” and “anti-competitive” advertising campaign.
Resource consents must speed up to meet climate change targets
20 Mar 2023
New research shows that a 50% improvement in resource consent processing times could be needed for New Zealand to meet its 2050 emissions target.
How solar and storage developers got their market forecasts completely wrong
20 Mar 2023
The biggest solar farm in Australia is now officially open – and partially complete – but it offers a fascinating insight into some of the challenges facing developers as they seek to deliver on the country’s ambitious renewable energy targets.
Fossil fuel executives see a ‘golden age’ for gas, if they can brand it as ‘clean’
20 Mar 2023
Natural gas has long been subject to a war of words. Once it was a “bridge fuel” that would straddle the gap from fossil energy to renewable sources. More recently, climate activists have sought to highlight that gas pollutes, too, by stripping “natural” from its name and calling it fossil- or methane gas.
Govt progressing NZ Battery Project
17 Mar 2023
Media release - The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach.
How to promote green industry beyond subsidies
17 Mar 2023
The leaked draft of the Net Zero Industry Act rightly highlights a need to plan better the necessary industrial transformation of the EU. It considers a host of measures aimed at promoting specific industries, including streamlined permits, access to public and private finance and priority for public procurement.
Lodestone starts Edgecumbe solar farm construction
16 Mar 2023
Lodestone Energy has started construction of a 32MW farm in the Bay of Plenty town of Edgecumbe - the New Zealand-owned company's second solar farm in Aotearoa.
Crunch time for South Australia’s bold green hydrogen play as bids close
16 Mar 2023
Bids for South Australia’s bold plan to build a state-funded green hydrogen electrolyser and power plant at the steel city of Whyalla have closed, with Andrew Forrest’s new green energy play likely leading a hungry pack of local and international suppliers.
DRC dilemma: Generate oil wealth or combat climate change?
16 Mar 2023
The Democratic Republic of Congo wants more money for climate projects. Otherwise, oil drilling could replace fishermen in the world's largest peat bog. And that could spell devastation for the environment.
Generators latest to take aim at RMA reform
15 Mar 2023
Electricity generators have joined those attacking proposed RMA reforms with most concerns about the consenting process for renewable generation and in particular the short-term nature of consents for assets with a long life.
Biden approves ConocoPhillips’ Willow project to drill oil in the Alaskan Arctic
15 Mar 2023
The Biden administration gave final approval Monday to a major Arctic oil project, marking one of its most significant and controversial decisions on climate change and energy.
‘Dead’ electric car batteries find a second life powering cities
15 Mar 2023
Last month, a small warehouse in the English city of Nottingham received the crucial final components for a project that leverages the power of used EV batteries to create a new kind of circular economy.
Date set for Australia’s first offshore wind auction as ports prepare for massive turbines
14 Mar 2023
The state of Victoria will hold the first auctions in Australia for offshore wind projects in 2025 to ensure that the first tranche of at least two gigawatts of the new technology is built before the first of the state’s last two coal generators closes down.
UK pension funds target BP and Shell directors over climate goals- FT
13 Mar 2023
Two of the UK's largest pension schemes will vote against the renewal of top directors at BP Plc (BP.L) and Shell Plc (SHEL.L) at their annual meetings unless both companies strengthen commitments to tackling carbon emissions, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
Renewables at record share of electricity generation
10 Mar 2023
The renewable share of electricity generation is at its highest level on record, with greenhouse gas emissions from electricity also at a low, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Australia is still trailing well behind 82% renewable target, despite investment bump
10 Mar 2023
Australia has received a welcome investment bump in new financially committed new wind, solar and storage projects in the last quarter, but the country remains well behind the rate of investment needed to reach its declared target of 82% renewables by 2030
Coal still being burnt in DOC huts
10 Mar 2023
The ACT Party is claiming that the continued use of coal in some Department of Conservation huts is proof of the “craziness” of the government’s climate targets.
Massey University to host one of NZ’s largest solar farms
9 Mar 2023
Massey University is planning to host a large solar PV system at its Manawatū campus, in a step towards its goal of being net carbon zero by 2030.
Solar takes centre stage as renewables and batteries dominate new power capacity in US
9 Mar 2023
Wind, solar, and battery storage are expected to account for nearly all of the new utility-scale generating capacity set to be brought online in the United States this year.
Spanish wind giant commits to 4GW of new renewables a year, including in Asia Pacific
8 Mar 2023
Spain-based wind energy giant EDP Renewables has announced it will invest €20 billion over the next four years in an effort to add more than 4GW per year of new utility-scale solar and wind.
EU rewrites climate diplomacy deal to resolve nuclear sticking point
8 Mar 2023
European Union countries intend to push for a global phasing out of fossil fuels among their climate diplomacy priorities this year, which the bloc hopes to approve this week after rewriting a contentious section on nuclear energy.
‘Green hydrogen’ would squander renewable energy resources in Massachusetts
8 Mar 2023
Efforts by natural gas utilities in Massachusetts to replace 20 percent of their fossil gas supply with “green hydrogen” derived from renewable electricity would consume more clean energy than would be produced by the state’s ambitious offshore wind energy buildout in the coming years while yielding few climate benefits, according to a new report.
Bathurst reports record profit as coal prices soar
6 Mar 2023
Bathurst Resources said soaring coal prices provided record first half-year profits for the company despite record increased costs.
Activists make final appeal to Biden to block Arctic oil project
6 Mar 2023
Environmental and Indigenous activists rallied outside the White House on Friday calling on President Joe Biden to reject a major Arctic oil project that has been in development for years.
World-first “energy island” takes shape in North Sea with contracts awarded
3 Mar 2023
A world first offshore wind “energy island” is one step closer to being realised, after a Belgian consortium known as TM Edison was tapped to build the ground-breaking project.
Emissions up for third consecutive quarter, driven by increased use of coal and gas
1 Mar 2023
New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions increased 0.8% in the June 2022 quarter, up 161 kilotonnes from the previous quarter, despite a 7.5% fall in manufacturing emissions (194 kilotonnes).
Converting Huntly would take mass amounts of biomass
27 Feb 2023
Fuelling the Huntly power station with wood pellets will require building a domestic supply chain which would dwarf current global supply of the specialised product Genesis Energy would need.
Steel giants are stoking double standards on decarbonisation
24 Feb 2023
India is expected to see significant demand growth in the steel sector going forward. The country needs to double its capacity by the end of this decade to meet National Steel Policy targets and steel producers have aligned their growth strategy with this policy.
It would take less than 3% of Big Oil’s profits to clean up methane emissions
24 Feb 2023
Oil companies and governments have pledged to slash methane emissions in recent years, but so far have little to show for it. Emissions of this potent greenhouse gas by the fossil fuel industry continued to climb in 2022, the International Energy Agency says.
Ticking time-bomb in Govt’s failure of leadership on climate – Carr
Tue 9 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The coalition Government’s failure to slash emissions is like pulling the pin on a grenade, handing it to a kid, and saying “hold on tight, she’ll be right”, says former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr.
Govt rushes to pass climate law changes under urgency
Today 12:15pm
By Liz Kivi | Legislation to amend the Climate Change Response Act was introduced to Parliament on Monday, and the government intends to rush the changes through under urgency in the next two weeks, avoiding the usual public consultation.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
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.
Air NZ inks deal for its first internationally verified carbon credits
9 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Air New Zealand has committed to buying 8000 tonnes of carbon removals by 2030, in partnership with local native forest investment platform My Native Forest.
Second fire tears through Tongariro National Park
Tue 9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fire crews have returned to Tongariro National Park this morning as a fast-moving fire that started yesterday threatens unburnt vegetation and nearby communities, just a month after a major blaze scorched 3000 hectares in the same area.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Forestry biomass could replace as much as 40% of fossil fuel-generated process heat by 2050, but access to supply, regulatory settings and business cases for converting to wood-based heat sources are required, the Government says in a series of documents released yesterday.
Carbon News publishes ten-year NZU forward curve
Today 12:15pm
Carbon News has published a new ten-year NZU forward curve mapping how carbon prices could evolve through to 2035 under a range of policy and market conditions.
2025 ‘virtually certain’ to be second- or third-hottest year on record, EU data shows
Today 12:15pm
Copernicus deputy director says three-year average for 2023 to 2025 on track to exceed 1.5C of heating for first time.
Carbon auction tipped to be a non-event
2 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Tomorrow’s Emissions Trading Scheme auction is all but certain to fail, with participants blaming the government for destroying confidence as NZUs continue to change hands on the secondary market at a 40% discount on the $68 auction floor.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
Tue 9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
$235 billion worth of NZ buildings exposed to flooding
30 Oct 2025
More than 750,000 New Zealanders live in locations exposed to one-in-100-year floods, according to a nationwide study which shows escalating flood risk.
Al Gore's case for optimism
Mon 8 Dec 2025
This year’s United Nations climate summit in Belém, Brazil had everything: A literal flood, a literal fire, a record-breaking 1,600+ fossil fuel lobbyists, and delegates from oil-producing nations working overtime.
DOC trims costs and winds down jobs for nature
10 Nov 2025
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is entering a new phase of tighter budgets and structural change as it winds down the pandemic-era Jobs for Nature programme and reshapes its operations to absorb long-term cost pressures.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
Today 12:15pm
By Shannon Morris-Williams | This year New Zealand had its hottest spring since records began, with widespread heat, rainfall extremes and destructive wind driven by sudden stratospheric warming.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
Today 12:15pm
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.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Media round-up
Fri 5 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Labour’s chronic evasiveness as the Government reneges on climate change; newly released documents reveal the country's new methane target is associated with 'perilous' 2.7C of warming; and New Zealand's 'pitiful' decision on emissions targets comes with costs.
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.”
Analysis: Why COP30’s ‘tripling adaptation finance’ target is less ambitious than it seems
Fri 5 Dec 2025
One of the headline outcomes to emerge from COP30 was a new target to “at least triple” finance for climate adaptation in developing countries by 2035.
Govt ‘scaremongering’ over co-operation – former climate ambassador
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s former top climate diplomat, Kay Harrison, says the Government’s recent comments ruling out buying climate mitigation offshore amount to scaremongering, and the country is missing a chance to give our businesses a boost.
TotalEnergies loses in Paris court, marking a turning point for fossil fuel truth-in-advertising
5 Nov 2025
TotalEnergies was found to have misled consumers about its role in the energy transition.
Tribunal warns govt geothermal strategy risks Treaty breach
2 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government's geothermal development strategy risks breaching the Treaty of Waitangi, according to a report from the Waitangi Tribunal released last week.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
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.
Insurers welcome govt decision to keep NHC levy unchanged
21 Nov 2025
Media release |The Insurance Council of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s decision to leave the Natural Hazards Commission levy unchanged, amid ongoing concerns around the cost-of-living.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
NZ’s rejection of emission targets fuels risk of international law breach
Mon 8 Dec 2025
By Karen Scott, Professor in Law, University of Canterbury | The New Zealand government’s decision this week to reject all of the Climate Change Commission’s emission target recommendations was just the latest in a string of policy statements that weaken the country’s action on climate.
NZ fails to back ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels at COP
24 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Eighty-six countries including Australia, the UK, Germany, and Ireland backed a proposal at COP30 for national plans on how to quit oil, gas and coal – but New Zealand wasn’t one of them.
Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions
3 Dec 2025
COMMENT: The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts.
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.
Storms in the Southern Ocean are producing more rain – and the consequences could be global
Mon 8 Dec 2025
Storms in the Southern Ocean influence weather patterns across Australia, New Zealand and the globe.
Heatwaves, downpours and droughts – Auckland on track for more extreme weather
1 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show Auckland will face more heatwaves, heavier downpours, worsening droughts and growing coastal threats as climate extremes intensify, according to a new report from Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
Thu 4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
RMA replacement bills introduced – fixes are needed
Today 12:15pm
Media release: Environmental Defence Society | In a massive shakeup of our core environmental and planning laws, the Government has introduced legislation to Parliament to replace the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).
Shipping movements disrupted as climate change protesters block coal ships
2 Dec 2025
NSW police have arrested 141 people who attempted to block the shipping channel in Newcastle Harbour during Rising Tide protests, which began on Thursday.
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.
Rare win for renewable energy: Trump administration funds geothermal network expansion
Fri 5 Dec 2025
A first-in-the-nation heating and cooling network in Massachusetts is set to double in size.
Comparing climate models with observations
Today 12:15pm
The latest generation of climate models shows too much long-term warming but better reproduces recent trends.
Solar households to get little-noticed tax break
23 Sep 2025
A provision in the government’s latest tax bill would exempt households from paying tax on income they earn by selling excess electricity back to the grid.
More than $2m up for grabs for low-emissions farming innovation
Today 12:15pm
The Ag Emissions Centre and AgriZeroNZ yesterday opened their 2026 innovation investment round.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
31 Jul 2025
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.
Seven EU countries pressure European Commission to rethink 2035 diesel and petrol car ban
Tue 9 Dec 2025
Pressure from EU countries, lawmakers and the automotive industry is likely pushing the European Commission to delay the revision of the bloc's ban on diesel and petrol cars by 2035.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
14 Nov 2025
Media release: Kaicycle | Since 2015, Kaicycle has grown from a humble pilot project growing kai and collecting compost on bicycles into the thriving urban farm and composting hub that Wellingtonians know and love.
Study provides a step-change in understanding NZ’s groundwater
28 Nov 2025
Media release | Earth Sciences New Zealand has developed a world-first National Groundwater Age Map and a powerful suite of tools to support the sustainable management of our hidden groundwater resources, from national through to local scales.
Wildfires destroy 40 homes and kill a firefighter in Australia
Tue 9 Dec 2025
There were 52 wildfires burning across New South Wales on Monday and nine remained out of control. A total of 20 homes had destroyed over the weekend in that state.
NZ’s energy system at a crossroads – report
21 Nov 2025
A new report says New Zealand’s rapid shift toward a 95% renewable electricity system is at a critical turning point, urging faster consenting, stronger firming solutions and better grid planning.
