Topics tagged with 'Energy'
Warning that labour shortages could harm Australia’s green energy transition
12 Aug 2022
Australia’s Clean Energy Council has warned that the country runs the risk of throttling the success of its clean energy transition unless the current and growing labour shortages and skills gaps across the clean energy industry are filled.
'The Sacrifice Zone': Myanmar bears cost of green energy
11 Aug 2022
The birds no longer sing, and the herbs no longer grow. The fish no longer swim in rivers that have turned a murky brown. The animals do not roam, and the cows are sometimes found dead.
Gravity storage start-up says it has “multi gigawatt hour” plans for Australian zinc refiner
11 Aug 2022
Gravity storage start-up Energy Vault says it has begun site planning for what it now describes as a “multi-gigawatt hour” project for long and short term storage to support the green energy plans for Australian zinc refiner Sun Metals.
Canada’s carbon tax is hurting working people: opinion
11 Aug 2022
In 1912, the fact that excess carbon released into the atmosphere could warm up the earth was first made public knowledge. Here we are, one hundred ten years later, still wondering what to do about the problem.
EECA calls for submissions on EV charging
10 Aug 2022
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) is calling for public submissions on a green paper about improving the performance of electric vehicle (EV) chargers to cope with increasing demand on the grid.
5 ways the Inflation Reduction Act will fight climate change
10 Aug 2022
More clean energy, less dirty energy, new punishments for methane leaks and billions of dollars for communities most in need of climate-related help — those are the provisions that have environmentalists celebrating what they see as a monumental step for U.S. climate action.
Green hydrogen has a leakage problem that may cancel out some of its climate gains
9 Aug 2022
Hydrogen has emerged as the great white (or green) hope of the clean energy transition due to its potential use in decarbonising hard-to-abate industries like shipping, steel production, and even transport.
Chinese companies seek global carbon market for green hydrogen
9 Aug 2022
Three Chinese organisations are leading the charge to create an international carbon market for green hydrogen.
Why does Canada keep propping up Big Oil amid climate crisis?
8 Aug 2022
Legislators on Capitol Hill will soon vote on the biggest climate crisis bill in U.S. history. It's sparked a lively debate in its northern neighour where Canadians are questioning whether the time has come to tackle big oil.
Tata Steel faces crunch-time, professor warns
8 Aug 2022
The UK's largest steelworks is facing "crunch time" over reducing carbon emissions, a professor has warned.
Best by the rest...
5 Aug 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: Former Green Party leader Russel Norman on greenwashing and He Waka Eke Noa; political journalist Branko Marcetic on why the pundits are getting the Green Party leadership stoush all wrong; and land use expert Keith Woodford underlines the significance of recent government announcements for forestry rules and carbon pricing.
Global renewables investment hits record high, boosted by solar and offshore wind
4 Aug 2022
Global renewable energy investment reached a record $US226 billion across the first six months of 2022, an 11% year-on-year increase which defied supply chain challenges and cost inflation to highlight growing demand for clean energy.
What’s hotter than solar panels? Solar window
4 Aug 2022
The tantalizing idea behind solar windows is that the vertical surfaces on the outside of just about any building could unobtrusively generate electricity.
Cycling surges 47% in England as fuel price hikes bite
4 Aug 2022
Compared to 2021, cycling levels in England rose by 47% on weekdays and 27% on weekends in the five months to the end of July, according to the latest statistics from the U.K.’s Department for Transport.
Chile’s lithium provides profit to the billionaires but exhausts the land and the people
3 Aug 2022
The Atacama salt flat in northern Chile, which stretches 1,200 square miles, is the largest source of lithium in the world. We are standing on a bluff, looking over la gran fosa, the great pit that sits at the southern end of the flat, which is shielded from public view.
Hawaii gets its last shipment of coal, ever
2 Aug 2022
It’s the end of a dirty era in Hawaii. The state’s last-ever coal shipment arrived in Oahu on Wednesday, bound for the last remaining coal-fired power plant, which is due to shut down in September.
What we learned about coal phaseout by studying 15 countries
2 Aug 2022
Carbon Brief | Despite the widely recognised need to quickly move away from fossil fuels, particularly coal, many countries continue to invest in this highly polluting source of energy.
Offshore wind’s turbulent future
2 Aug 2022
When it’s completed, Norway’s Hywind Tampen will be the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm. Compared with most wind farms—even other offshore wind farms—the Hywind Tampen is unusual: the 88-megawatt operation is located farther out to sea than almost any other wind farm to date. Floating 140 kilometers offshore, the turbines will sit in water between 260 and 300 meters deep.
Data centres are facing a climate crisis
2 Aug 2022
When record temperatures wracked the UK in late July, Google Cloud’s data centres in London went offline for a day, due to cooling failures. The impact wasn’t limited to those near the center: That particular location services customers in the US and Pacific region, with outages limiting their access to key Google services for hours. Oracle’s cloud-based data centre in the capital was also struck down by the heat, causing outages for US customers. Oracle blamed “unseasonal temperatures” for...
Vermont moves to become first state to phase out linear fluorescent lights
2 Aug 2022
Aiming to reduce mercury hazards and boost energy efficiency, Vermont will prohibit the sale of the long, tube-shaped fluorescent lamps that light up supermarkets, office buildings and classrooms as of Jan. 1, 2024.
Smelter’s future on the line
1 Aug 2022
By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | It came later than many expected, but NZ Aluminium Smelters confirmed it would begin talks for power supply to extend the life of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter past 2024 when its current deal with Meridian and Contact ends.
Tourism expert calls to scrutinise cruise ships’ emissions
29 Jul 2022
By Liz Kivi | A sustainable tourism expert wants greater scrutiny around cruise travel, including the impacts of mega cruise ships and their carbon emissions, ahead of the vessels’ return to New Zealand waters in October.
Best by the rest...
29 Jul 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: Is the government abandoning its proposal to limit permanent exotic forest in the ETS? Two court cases fighting over further fossil fuel prospecting; and why confronting climate change means sharing power.
Carbon market wakes from its slumber following Climate Change Commission advice
28 Jul 2022
The price of NZUs on the secondary market reached $82.50 – a jump of close to 13% on its opening price – following yesterday’s release of the Climate Change Commission’s advice to government on the NZ ETS settings.
Active transport subsidy a hit with staff
28 Jul 2022
A $750 active transport subsidy has proved a hit with employees of the New Zealand arm of the international engineering consultancy WPS.
‘Our priority is not to save the planet’: rainforest auctioned for oil drilling
28 Jul 2022
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has announced that it will auction off vast quantities of critical tropical peatlands and rainforests for oil and gas drilling, just months after promising to preserve them at the COP26 climate conference.
Time to fix Europe’s dumbest climate policy
27 Jul 2022
Deforestation, billions of euros wasted, and soaring food and fuel prices; the charge sheet against biofuels is damning. Introduced to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, the burning of food crops for fuel has been an unmitigated disaster.
Australia’s three richest men are spending their billions on green energy transition
26 Jul 2022
The surprise bid for renewables and storage developer Genex Power announced on Monday morning by billionaire Scott Farquhar and his wife Kim Jackson tells two interesting stories about Australia’s green energy transition.
Regulation change aims to support decarbonisation - Woods
25 Jul 2022
By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | Energy minister Megan Woods has urged electricity lines companies to be more innovative now that Low Fixed Charges regulations are being rolled back and more money is available to electrify industrial processes.
The audacious PR plot that seeded doubt about climate change
25 Jul 2022
Thirty years ago, a bold plan was cooked up to spread doubt and persuade the public that climate change was not a problem. The little-known meeting - between some of America's biggest industrial players and a PR genius - forged a devastatingly successful strategy that endured for years, and the consequences of which are all around us.
UK targets 10GW by 2030 with “world-first” hydrogen subsidy scheme
25 Jul 2022
The UK government has officially opened the world’s first national low carbon subsidy scheme for hydrogen, which will target up to 1GW of clean hydrogen production by 2025 on the way to 10GW of low carbon hydrogen capacity by 2030.
Mercury partners with Hikotron on a nationwide EV charging network
22 Jul 2022
Media Release - Mercury is supporting Hamilton start-up Hikotron in its rollout of a New Zealand-made smart AC charging network for electric vehicles.
Australia leads world in green hydrogen hype and hope, but not in actual projects
22 Jul 2022
Australia, you will read almost anywhere, aims to be a global renewable energy superpower, even a renewable hydrogen superpower – in much the same way it does in fossil fuels, where it is one of the world’s three biggest exporters.
Two million to access solar power in rural Nigeria
22 Jul 2022
Husk Power Systems, an off-grid energy services company, aims to provide two million people in rural Nigeria with reliable solar power.
Congo peat swamps store three years of global carbon emissions – imminent oil drilling could release it
22 Jul 2022
Democratic Republic of the Congo’s government is preparing to auction off a series of licenses to drill for oil in the Congo basin. This threatens to damage around 11 million hectares of the world’s second largest rainforest.
Octopus launches $10 billion renewables platform, buys Australia’s biggest solar farm
21 Jul 2022
Octopus Investment Australia has officially launched its new $10 billion renewables “platform”, that will seek to finance big solar, wind and battery storage projects and has already bought the biggest operating solar farm in Australia.
India plans $10 billion electric bus contract to curb emissions
21 Jul 2022
State-controlled Convergence Energy Services Ltd. is planning a $10-billion tender for 50,000 electric buses that will drive India’s plans to decarbonize public transport and help meet its goals for net zero emissions.
The legacy of Europe’s heat waves will be more air conditioning. That’s a problem.
21 Jul 2022
Europe is sweltering in record-breaking temperatures this week, and across the continent, people are largely trying to cope without air conditioning.
How Canberra avoided the global energy crisis
20 Jul 2022
The “Canberra bubble” is something of a derisive term in Australia, referring to the niche interests of politicians, lobbyists and media insiders in the country’s capital — the equivalent of being entrenched “inside the Beltway” of Washington D.C.
How secretive methane leaks are driving climate change
20 Jul 2022
There is an open secret in the oil and gas industry and it is feeding the climate crisis.
Germany rejects delaying climate action
20 Jul 2022
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has rejected the notion of cutting back on climate change targets despite the energy and food security crisis, speaking at the end of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin on Tuesday.
Hawaii says goodbye to coal, aloha to big batteries
19 Jul 2022
For most visitors, Hawaii is where you go to relax, honeymoon and get away from it all. For Hawaiians, it is home, with all its warts and blemishes including high prices – including electricity prices.
Government must balance potential costs of reducing gas
18 Jul 2022
By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | A Cabinet paper on the Government’s development of the Gas Transition Plan says it must reduce the use of gas but balancing the potential costs in doing that will require shifting priorities over time.
Chevron to lay out millions for more credits to cover another Gorgon carbon capture shortfall
18 Jul 2022
Chevron faces a renewed multimillion-dollar buy-up of carbon credits to cover another shortfall by the world’s biggest carbon capture and storage scheme at the Gorgon LNG project off northern WA.
Finnish "sand battery" offers solution for renewable energy storage
18 Jul 2022
Finnish companies Polar Night Energy and Vatajankoski have built the world's first operational "sand battery", which provides a low-cost and low-emissions way to store renewable energy.
Global energy and climate leaders meet in Sydney to strengthen clean energy technology supply chains
13 Jul 2022
Media Release - Global energy and climate leaders are meeting this week at the Sydney Energy Forum, which is co-hosted by the Australian Government and the IEA, to discuss how to scale up and strengthen supply chains for the clean energy technologies needed for a secure and affordable transition to net zero emissions.
Carbon tariff needed to tackle Britain’s energy and manufacturing crisis: report
13 Jul 2022
A new carbon tariff needs to be imposed on polluting foreign manufacturers that import goods into the UK, according to a report on the energy crisis released by the John Mills Institute for Prosperity.
Integrated wind and solar still cheapest, and green hydrogen costs falling fast: CSIRO
12 Jul 2022
Australia’s main scientific body and the country’s energy market operator have again underlined the fact that “integrated” wind and solar – including the cost of storage and transmission – is still by far the cheapest source of new electricity generation in Australia.
Government presses on with Lake Onslow project
11 Jul 2022
By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | Officials have been given the go-ahead to work on final feasibility studies for the Lake Onslow pumped hydro project.
China’s domination of solar a risk to zero-carbon future: IEA
11 Jul 2022
Countries must lessen their dependence on China’s production of solar panels and dramatically boost manufacturing capacity to reach net-zero emissions, the International Energy Agency has said.
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 warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
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.
Minister not concerned about potential economic impacts of ruling out offshore mitigation
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts isn’t worried that ruling out using offshore mitigation is effectively reneging from the Paris Agreement with potential to damage New Zealand’s economy and access to export markets.
Still possible to divert from disastrous climate path to sustainable, healthy planet, says UNEP
Thu 11 Dec 2025
A baby born today will turn 75 in 2100, and the world that child will inherit as an adult – if governments don’t act in the next five years – could be 3.9°C hotter, economically shattered, and ravaged by pollution. But there is still a choice, a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report demonstrates.
Is Govt rushing through changes to climate framework to avoid litigation?
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says the Government’s motivation for proposed changes to the country’s climate framework law are unclear: “The only reason I can think of is one grounded in potential litigation risk.”
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.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
Thu 11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
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
Wed 10 Dec 2025
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
Wed 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.
Australia has new laws to protect nature. Do they signal an end to native forest logging?
Thu 11 Dec 2025
Reforms to Australia’s nature laws have passed federal parliament. A longstanding exemption that meant federal environment laws did not apply to native logging has finally been removed from the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
Thu 11 Dec 2025
Media release | Ten of the world’s largest oil and gas companies would create significantly more shareholder value by ending exploration and sharply curtailing upstream development, according to new analysis released today by ACCR.
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
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
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.
Govt rushes to pass climate law changes under urgency
Wed 10 Dec 2025
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 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
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
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.
Neighbours fume over plans to axe trees for solar farm
Thu 11 Dec 2025
Diane McCarthy, Local Democracy Reporter | Whakatāne District Council has thrown its support behind residents of a country lane distressed about Genesis Energy’s plans to axe their trees.
NZ and US studying "huge unknown" in Antarctic climate science
Thu 11 Dec 2025
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Scientists are measuring a huge unknown in climate science: how much heat Antarctica emits into space.
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
Wed 10 Dec 2025
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.
UN environment report 'hijacked' by US and others over fossil fuels, top scientist says
Thu 11 Dec 2025
A key UN report on the state of the global environment has been "hijacked" by the United States and other countries who were unwilling to go along with the scientific findings, the co-chair has told the BBC.
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.
Australian market operator slashes wind farm predictions amid falling costs for solar and batteries
Thu 11 Dec 2025
The body that runs Australia's biggest power market has scaled back its plans for high-voltage power lines and wind farms to meet the country's green energy targets.
