Topics tagged with 'Energy'
New Govt unlikely to cut farmers more slack
2 Nov 2020
Speculation the Government may go soft on agricultural emissions without the Green Party in Cabinet ignores Labour’s track record on the issue.
Petronas Asia's first oil company to set zero-emissions target
2 Nov 2020
Malaysian state-owned energy firm Petronas has declared that it will be carbon neutral by 2050
Bank to ban companies using coal
30 Oct 2020
The ANZ Bank says it will not take on any new customers using coal, and that by 2030 it will finance gas and renewable power generation only.
Aviation joins the electric age
30 Oct 2020
New Zealand’s first electric plane will take to the skies today.
Philippines declares moratorium on new coal power plants
30 Oct 2020
The Philippines Government will no longer accept proposals to build new coal power plants, in a significant policy shift designed to boost the deployment of renewable energy.
Ford and GM knew about climate change - and covered it up
30 Oct 2020
Exxon knew, Shell knew, coal knew — is it any surprise that top auto manufacturers knew, too?
How to boost the hydrogen market
30 Oct 2020
Step by step, hydrogen has worked its way into the heart of the energy transition: as a storage medium for renewable energy; a fuel of the future for ships and planes; and a replacement for fossil fuels in homes, power and industry.
Consortium plans carbon-capture projects
29 Oct 2020
After decades spent extracting fossil fuels from the UK’s North Sea, a consortium of oil companies is preparing to pump Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions back beneath the seabed to help meet the government’s climate ambitions.
EU tries to stop fossil-fuel companies suing over climate action
29 Oct 2020
The European Union is trying to remove fossil fuels from the list of investments protected by the Energy Charter Treaty to stop its member states being sued over climate action.
EU will not block new nuclear power plants
27 Oct 2020
The European Commission will not stand in the way of countries that choose to build new nuclear power stations, said EU climate chief Frans Timmermans.
World Bank branch backs coal megaproject
23 Oct 2020
The World Bank’s private lending branch is indirectly backing one of the world’s biggest new coal complexes, despite a new green policy.
Forestry’s climate impact ‘invisible’ under UN rules, experts say
23 Oct 2020
Forests are the planet’s biggest carbon “sink” – absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they emit – but their contribution to cooling the earth’s climate is currently not fully accounted for under UN rules, experts say.
NZX wants 'efficient' links to secondary market
22 Oct 2020
The Government’s new carbon-auctioning site could be connected to platforms in the secondary market.
Business makes bid for $7.23 billion
22 Oct 2020
Businesses want the new Government to back $7.23 billion worth of projects they say will cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 5.5 per cent over the next decade.
EU to go for tough new rules for car batteries
22 Oct 2020
The European Commission will table new EU-wide regulations this autumn to ensure that batteries manufactured or imported into Europe are “the greenest on this planet".
Carbon auctioning platform operator revealed
21 Oct 2020
NZX has won the right to set up and operate the Government’s carbon-auctioning platform.
Let's cool the ground and keep drilling, says Big Oil
21 Oct 2020
Oil company ConocoPhillips has a problem; it wants to pump 160,000 more barrels of oil each day from a new project on Alaska’s North Slope, but the fossil fuels it and others produce are leading to global heating, and the Arctic is melting.
Election has little impact on carbon markets
20 Oct 2020
Carbon markets have barely reacted to the general election, which returned Labour to power with an absolutely majority and arguably an endorsement of its actions on climate change.
We need to solve the dry-year problem, says Carr
20 Oct 2020
Electrification of more of the economy to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions will require a resolution to the risk posed by dry years to the hydro-electricity system, says Climate Change Commission chair Dr Rod Carr.
How China can be carbon-neutral by 2060
20 Oct 2020
Three weeks after China told the world it is aiming for carbon neutrality, an important study outlines a roadmap to that goal, and challenges along the way.
The four who could be our next climate minister
19 Oct 2020
Who will be New Zealand’s next climate minister? Carbon News canvasses the options and comes up with four names.
World makes haste too slowly on cutting energy use
19 Oct 2020
The world is dragging its feet on efforts to tackle the climate crisis by reducing its energy use, according to a global watchdog.
BHP hears Musk's call for more nickel
16 Oct 2020
Australian resources giant BHP may finally be starting to establish itself as a primary supplier of materials to the battery and electric vehicle markets, confirming that it has started to boost nickel production after Tesla CEO Elon Musk issued a call out for miners to ramp up output of the key material used in the company’s batteries.
National releases its climate policy - at last
15 Oct 2020
Forestry's role under the Emissions Trading Scheme would be reviewed under a National Government and agricultural emissions would not face a carbon price until other countries do the same.
Our greenhouse gas emissions are being pushed by growth
15 Oct 2020
Economic growth is driving New Zealand’s rising greenhouse gas emissions, a new report confirms.
Electric trucks and green hydrogen 'ripe' for investment
15 Oct 2020
Green hydrogen, low-carbon aviation fuel and electric trucks are among 55 clean technologies that can help the European Union to reach its goal of climate neutrality by mid-century, new research shows.
IEA outlines how world can reach net-zero emissions by 2050
14 Oct 2020
For the first time, the International Energy Agency has set out what would need to happen this decade to reach net-zero emissions globally by 2050.
Business, experts, brief PM in secret meeting
13 Oct 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and three of her Cabinet heavyweights have been briefed on what experts and business leaders see as the real issues in dealing with climate change.
Steel giant joins growing list of companies aiming for net-zero
13 Oct 2020
Luxembourg company ArcelorMittal produces more steel than any other company. It is also taking a leading role in developing technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from steel-making.
Parker pushes back against pumped-hydro critics
12 Oct 2020
Environment and former climate and energy minister David Parker says he is backing investigations into a pumped-hydro scheme because it has the potential to slash the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Exxon’s leaked documents reveal pollution plan
12 Oct 2020
Leaded documents show Exxon plans to increase its carbon production by 17 per cent by 2025 - an increase equivalent to the total annual emissions of Greece.
Lines project first to try covid consent process
9 Oct 2020
A project that could form part of the Government’s pumped-hydro electricity scheme is the first to be considered by an expert panel set up under the Government’s covid-19 fast-tracking consenting process.
Biorefinery boost to forestry
9 Oct 2020
A venture pushing to develop a $160 million biorefinery near Gisborne believes the project can help fill a long-standing gap in the country’s forestry research sector.
Labour targets transport and heat in climate policy
8 Oct 2020
A re-elected Labour Government would ban the installation of most new coal-fired industrial boilers and decarbonise the public transport fleet by 2035, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday.
Europe sets more ambitious target for 2030
8 Oct 2020
The European Parliament has voted to update the European Union's climate target for 2030, backing a 60 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, up from 40 per cent currently.
Political 'retreat' on climate action harms all nations, says UN climate chief
7 Oct 2020
Rich nations are failing on promises to help poorer ones meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, even though such help would be “not charity but a global act of self-interest”, says United Nations climate chief Patricia Espinosa.
Nuclear power hinders fight against climate change
7 Oct 2020
Countries wishing to reduce carbon emissions should invest in renewables, abandoning any plans for nuclear power stations because they can no longer be considered a low-carbon option.
Government subsidies to cut emissions in public buildings
6 Oct 2020
Lincoln and Auckland universities and hospitals in Invercargill, New Plymouth and South Auckland are the latest public facilities to get a slice of the Government’s Clean-Powered Public Service Fund.
Green hydrogen could be cheap transformative fuel within a decade
6 Oct 2020
Chinese manufacturers have reported making systems to create hydrogen with renewable energy for up to 80 per cent less than official Australian estimates from just two years ago.
NextEra overtakes Exxon as US' largest energy company
5 Oct 2020
If you had invested in Florida-based utility NextEra Energy a decade ago, your total return through this week, including dividends, would have been 600 per cent.
Policy could prevent shift to low-emissions tech, says Genesis
1 Oct 2020
The Labour Government’s plan to bring forward its 100 per cent renewable electricity generation target to 2030 is an example of siloed thinking and is likely to be self-defeating, Genesis Energy has told shareholders.
Most parties get a 'fail' on climate and health
30 Sep 2020
Just one political party has policies that comprehensively address the threat climate change poses to the country’s health, a new analysis show.
Labour promises $5 million a year more for just transition
29 Sep 2020
Labour is promising to spend more money on getting the country’s workforce ready for the low-carbon economy.
Resources spokesman threatens to quit ALP over climate target
29 Sep 2020
Veteran New South Wales Labor right-winger Joel Fitzgibbon has threatened to quit the shadow cabinet if the opposition adopts a medium-term emissions reduction target he cannot live with.
Poland to phase out coal-mining by mid-century
29 Sep 2020
Poland is moving closer to ending its heavy reliance on coal as the Government and miners’ unions agree a landmark plan to phase out mines by 2049.
Fonterra should be ashamed of causing coal mine expansion, says Cana
29 Sep 2020
MEDIA RELEASE - Bathurst Resource¡¯s planned extension of its Canterbury coal mine, shut down by protesters this morning, is proof that dairy companies like Fonterra are not moving out of coal fast enough, says Coal Action Network Aotearoa.
Exxon uses carbon capture to keep oil flowing
29 Sep 2020
Sprawled across the arid expanse of southwestern Wyoming is one of the world's largest carbon capture plants, a hulking jumble of pipes, compressors and exhaust flues operated by ExxonMobil.
Coal activists' target misplaced - Straterra
29 Sep 2020
MEDIA RELEASE - Activists blocking a Canterbury coal mine over a proposed expansion need a reality check, says Straterra, New Zealand’s minerals sector industry organisation.
TRIBUTE: Environmental journalist Sandy Macdonald
21 Sep 2020
By ADELIA HALLETT | Today, Carbon News marks the passing of someone who has been at the heart of the publication since it started in 2008.
ScoMo refuses to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050
21 Sep 2020
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declined to sign up to a net-zero target by 2050 because he is “more interested in the doing”.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
Fri 12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Govt overhaul leaves the door open for coal mining on conservation land
Fri 12 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s sweeping reclassification of thousands of hectares of publicly-owned conservation land has met with sharp criticism, with environmental groups saying the decision leaves vulnerable ecosystems exposed to mining and development.
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.
What are the causes of recent record-high global temperatures?
Fri 12 Dec 2025
The past three years have been exceptionally warm globally.
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.
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.
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 ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
Fri 12 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says New Zealand restarting fossil fuel exploration and subsidies is an obvious breach of international law, exposing the country to international and domestic litigation.
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.
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.
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.
Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impacts of fossil fuels
Fri 12 Dec 2025
Victims of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a legal claim against oil and gas company Shell in the UK courts, seeking compensation for what they say is the company's role in making the storm more severe.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
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.
High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales – new study
Fri 12 Dec 2025
Media release: Greenpeace | The economic potential of seabed polymetallic nodules in the Cook Islands has been overstated, according to a new independent study commissioned by Greenpeace International.
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.
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.
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.
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.
