Topics tagged with 'Energy'
ELECTION 2016: Climate politics off to a chilly start
23 May 2016
One week into Australia's extended federal election campaign, climate has not featured prominently.
Want to know if the Paris climate deal is working?
23 May 2016
The Paris climate agreement has been praised for sending a strong signal to the world that we are now serious about cutting greenhouse emissions.
I agree this is serious, Bennett tells scientists
20 May 2016
A group of scientists and other prominent New Zealanders has had a reply to a letter accusing the Government of an “indefensible” lack of leadership on climate change.
Europe has high hopes for smart meters
20 May 2016
Europe’s move to replace at least 80 per cent of electricity meters with smart meters could cut greenhouse gas emissions in the region by 9 per cent.
The Earth is not flat, it is urban, says UN report
20 May 2016
The urban population of developing countries will double by 2030, while the area covered by cities could triple, says a new United Nations report.
Energy awards show what the country can do
19 May 2016
Innovations worth 1.2 petajoules of energy and 120,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions were honoured in Auckland last night.
Go-ahead Ontario adopts carbon trading scheme
19 May 2016
The Canadian province of Ontario is going carbon trading.
Glad tidings for the potential of sea power
19 May 2016
Two countries with the highest tides in the world, Canada and the UK, both claim to be the world leaders in creating electricity from the tides.
Future climate could cast shade on renewables
19 May 2016
Fighting climate change will involve massive changes to the way Australia produces and distributes energy.
China dominates wind turbine installation
18 May 2016
Nearly half of the new wind turbines installed last year were in China, latest data shows.
New RMA proposals won't cut it, say farmers
17 May 2016
Federated Farmers told the select committee considering the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill yesterday that current proposals will reduce the opportunity for public input, reduce opportunity for local decision making, and increase process costs.
It's more bad news for carbon capture
17 May 2016
Coal powered much of the industrial revolution and continues to fuel economic growth in developing nations, including China and India.
Coal-free SA could fill the gap with batteries
17 May 2016
South Australia’s last coal-fired power station closed last week, leaving the state with only gas and wind power generators.
Troubled Brazil prepares to roll back green laws
16 May 2016
Amidst the turmoil of the presidential impeachment process, members of Brazil’s Congress are set to dismantle environmental protection laws.
Vanadium the ‘beautiful metal’ that stores energy
16 May 2016
An unheralded metal could become a crucial part of the renewables revolution. Vanadium is used in new batteries which can store large amounts of energy almost indefinitely, perfect for remote wind or solar farms.
How updating office buildings can cut emissions
13 May 2016
Retrofitting New Zealand’s commercial buildings to use less fossil fuel-generated energy could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 666,000 tonnes – equivalent to the methane emissions from 200,000 dairy cows, a Wellington researcher has found.
Forest carbon storage risky, warns thinktank
12 May 2016
Storing carbon in forests is risky and should be used to meet no more than a fifth of New Zealand’s emissions reductions, says a group of prominent scientists and other New Zealanders.
Carbon emissions rise in study of future energy
12 May 2016
Global carbon dioxide emissions from energy production are likely to rise 34 per cent, or 11 billion tonnes, between 2012 and 2040, says a new report.
Will taxpayers foot the bill for broke coal companies?
12 May 2016
Coal’s share of the US energy market is rapidly plunging. Low-cost fracking-generated natural gas has overtaken the use of coal at America’s power plants.
Big names line up for Green Ribbon Awards
11 May 2016
The national airline, both major supermarket companies, one of the world’s largest technology companies, and a company that makes flexible pipes are among the finalists in the Government’s Green Ribbon Awards.
How your garden could help to stop city flooding
11 May 2016
Urban flooding represents the most common yet severe environmental threat to cities and towns worldwide.
Australia delays ETS report till after election
10 May 2016
The release of the results of a review into whether Australia should have an emissions trading scheme is being delayed until after that country’s general election in July, prompting suggestions of political interference.
Change to clean energy means massive social change
10 May 2016
Global climate change, driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is already affecting the planet, with more heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods, and accelerating sea-level rise.
Can we save the algae biofuel industry?
10 May 2016
Algal biofuels are in trouble. This alternative fuel source could help to reduce overall carbon emissions without taking land from food production, like many crop-based biofuels do.
LOST ISLANDS OF THE SOLOMONS: Finally, scientists have the evidence
9 May 2016
At least five reef islands in the Solomon Islands have been lost completely to sea-level rise and coastal erosion, and a further six islands have been severely eroded.
Solar industry fights lines companies' taxes
9 May 2016
The solar energy industry is fighting back against taxes being imposed by lines companies on customers installing panels on their homes, by taking a case to the Electricity Authority.
Climate confusion creeps into Trump camp
9 May 2016
Perhaps you think nothing else could surprise you in the run-up to this year’s US presidential election, with Donald Trump to be the Republican candidate. You could be wrong.
Nuclear power plant costs roll onwards and upwards
9 May 2016
Building nuclear power stations is becoming hugely more expensive by the day, but decommissioning old ones might prove to be even more costly.
Long road ahead for EVs, says energy expert
6 May 2016
The Government’s plan to get 64,000 electric cars on the road by 2021 will cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions by just 0.01 per cent.
We've made owning e-cars easier, claims minister
6 May 2016
Transport Minister Simon Bridges says his electric-vehicle policy will remove barriers that have prevented businesses and households switching to electric vehicles.
Better solar cells mean more energy from the sun
6 May 2016
Global demand for energy is increasing by the hour as developing countries move toward industrialisation.
CREDITS CRUNCH: We'll need millions of international units
5 May 2016
New Zealand is likely to need up to 220 million international credits to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target because even a domestic carbon price of $300 a tonne is unlikely to drive enough domestic emissions cuts, the Government says.
At last, Government to reveal plan for electric cars
4 May 2016
The Government will unveil its electric vehicle policy tomorrow.
Cut the kindling, Huntly could run on wood
4 May 2016
Converting the Huntly coal-fired power station to run on wood is technically feasible, but expensive.
Japan pays high price for ‘silo’ science
4 May 2016
Lack of scientific co-operation with other countries has cost Japan “trillions of yen” in expensive solar power because the country did not learn from the experience of other countries before rushing to install it, analysts say.
Why scientists must challenge poor media reporting
4 May 2016
Ocean acidification is causing fundamental and dangerous changes in the chemistry of the world’s oceans yet only one in five Britons has even heard of ocean acidification, let alone believes it a cause for concern.
Make ETS like a market, says our biggest emitter
3 May 2016
New Zealand’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases says that carbon trading needs to be automated and standardised.
Busy Bennett draws up climate to-do list
3 May 2016
Higher carbon prices, scrapping the one-for-two, and a detailed plan to decarbonise the New Zealand economy are on Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett’s to-do list.
Phasing out fossil fuels more than just a straight swap
3 May 2016
To have any chance of preventing dangerous climate change, the world needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero or even negative by mid-century.
Run carbon prices like the dollar, says academic
2 May 2016
Carbon prices should be managed like the Reserve Bank manages the value of the New Zealand dollar, a submission on the Emissions Trading Scheme is recommending.
Morganites want moratorium on free credits
2 May 2016
A think-tank which has strongly criticised New Zealand’s use of hot-air credits is now calling for a one-year moratorium on the allocation of free credits to trade-exposed heavy emitters.
Why cities need to add up the economic value of trees
2 May 2016
Your parents were wrong: money does grow on trees. Cities routinely rake in tens of millions of dollars from their urban forests annually in ways that are not always obvious.
Scientists see the future in natural resources
2 May 2016
From creating transparent wood for solar panels or windows to turning carbon dioxide and plant waste into plastic bottles, scientists are finding ingenious ways to sidestep fossil fuels.
Watchdog wants answers to solar questions
29 Apr 2016
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is investigating whether the uptake of solar panels really will cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gases.
Love thy neighbour and feel the power
29 Apr 2016
A new peer-to-peer solar power platform could see people buying electricity generated by their friends and neighbours.
Genesis extends life of Huntly coal-fired plant
28 Apr 2016
New Zealand’s coal-fired power station will remain open until 2022, but Genesis Energy says it is still committed to closing it.
We need an emissions cap, says business council
28 Apr 2016
New Zealand needs a cap on emissions and to include all sectors in the Emissions Trading Scheme, says the Sustainable Business Council.
Labor’s climate policy puts it back in the game
28 Apr 2016
The Australian Labor Party has announced the climate policy it will take to the federal election, including a return to carbon pricing under an emissions trading scheme.
Policy sounds good to us, say investors
28 Apr 2016
The Australian Labor Party’s new climate change policy has many of the elements investors are looking for, including market-based carbon pricing, says the Investor Group on Climate Change.
Carbon budgeting big success, says UK expert
27 Apr 2016
Carbon budgeting and an independent statutory body that reports on the Government’s performance have been critical to the United Kingdom’s success in cutting greenhouse gases, says a visiting expert.
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 slammed for weakening methane target
Mon 15 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams The Government has pushed through legislation under urgency to almost halve New Zealand’s 2050 methane target – a move Opposition parties say disregards scientific advice, breaks the country’s hard-won political consensus on climate action, and shifts the burden of higher warming and higher future costs onto the next generation.
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.
‘Cali Fund’ aiming to raise billions for nature receives first donation – of just $1,000
Tue 16 Dec 2025
A major biodiversity fund – which could, in theory, generate billions of dollars annually for conservation – received its first donation of just $1,000 in November.
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.
Battery subsidy scheme set for 'urgent' overhaul as costs run out of control
Tue 16 Dec 2025
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced big changes to the government's battery subsidy scheme amid claims most of its $2.3 billion budget has been spent in just six months.
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
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.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
Mon 15 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Despite ‘intransigent’ states blocking multilateralism and a disappointing official outcome, Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu says he left the COP30 climate summit feeling more positive than after previous UN climate conferences.
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.
Are rainforests now a cause of, rather than the answer to, climate change?
Mon 15 Dec 2025
A new study finds that Africa’s forests, responsible for one-fifth of global carbon removal, are beginning to generate carbon as the result of human activity.
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.
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.
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'.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
Tue 16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
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.
The deep ocean is fixing carbon in ways no one expected
Tue 16 Dec 2025
A new study reveals that unexpected microbes are quietly fixing carbon in the dark depths of the ocean.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
Tue 16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
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.
Weak carbon policy misses ‘exponential’ NZ growth opportunity: KiC
Mon 15 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Ambitious climate change policy is a route to a faster-growing New Zealand economy because of the potential for “exponential” growth in decarbonising technologies,” says KiwisinClimate, a global lobby group of New Zealanders working on climate change policy.
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.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
Tue 16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
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
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.
Australian Government wants EV, PHEV owners to start sending power to the grid
Mon 15 Dec 2025
The newly announced Vehicle-Grid Network is part of a plan to establish Australia as a leader in vehicle-to-grid technology.
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
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.
