Topics tagged with 'Energy'

New tandem solar cells pave way for better solar
30 Mar 2015
Maximizing the efficiency of converting sunlight to electricity was the primary goal for much of the history of solar power industry. Because solar cells were so expensive to make, they were used only in special applications, such as on spacecraft, where performance was more important than cost.

Wynyard scheme adopts green rating
30 Mar 2015
A new housing development in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter will be the first to use the new 7 Homestar environmental rating.

We're in the right gear to hit the e-car highway
23 Mar 2015
New Zealand could be one of the first countries with a complete network of charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles, the Electricity Networks’ Association says.

Old King Coal is sick ... but not yet dying
23 Mar 2015
A global investigation into every coal-fired power plant proposed in the past five years shows that only one in three of them has actually been built.

No matter how you cut it, the answer is ecosystem services
23 Mar 2015
As a professor of ecology, Shahid Naeem knows all too well that there’s no shortage of environmental ills to keep us awake at night – global warming, the spread of diseases, dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico, collapsing fisheries, mass extinction, and a hundred other things that are the stock and trade of environmental doomsayers.

Lots of hot air about heat, but why is no one talking about sustainable cooling?
23 Mar 2015
Without cooling, the supply of food, medicine and data would simply break down.

Why is low-carbon energy innovation so slow? You can thank Economics 101
23 Mar 2015
The world needs a lot of energy. Global energy demand is expected to increase by 37 per cent percent over the next 25 years, according to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2014.

Powerful wind blows through US energy sector
23 Mar 2015
By KIERAN COOKE.- The wind turbines are turning across America, and a major report by the US Department of Energy says the wind energy sector now supplies 4.5 per cent of the nation’s electricity.

Aussies want to know your water secrets
23 Mar 2015
Got ideas for cutting water use in manufacturing, energy production or the resources sector? Australia wants to hear them.
Wind power pioneer collects honour
23 Mar 2015
A Tauranga wind engineer has been made a fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand for his leadership in the development of wind generation.

Finland declares itself a bio-economy superpower
16 Mar 2015
Finland has launched a research centre for the refining of biomass into biochemicals as part of the country’s drive to double its bio-economy.

Heat is on to slow down faster rise in temperatures
16 Mar 2015
Analysis of temperature records and reconstructions of past climates indicates that the pace of global warming is about to accelerate.

Why is pumping CO2 underground stuck in second gear?
16 Mar 2015
There are many uncertainties with respect to global climate change, but there is one thing about which I have no doubts: we will not solve climate change by running out of fossil fuels.

Anthropocene began with species exchange between Old and New Worlds
16 Mar 2015
Time is divided by geologists according to marked shifts in the Earth’s state. Human activity has clearly altered the land surface, oceans and atmosphere, and re-ordered life on Earth. This suggests that the planet has entered a new human-dominated geological epoch, called the Anthropocene.

Better water quality in the spotlight
16 Mar 2015
The economics of environmentalism will be under the spotlight in Tauranga next week.

Biobattery breakthrough boosts waste-to-energy revolution
9 Mar 2015
Competition to make biofuels out of waste products that would otherwise have to be dumped is creating a fast-growing, worldwide industry.

How well prepared are businesses for climate change?
9 Mar 2015
The world is changing. The weather is becoming more volatile, with the number of extreme weather events on the rise. Climate change represents the new normal: the Earth is already showing the impacts of our actions, which will continue to become more visible.

Four ways to boost Australia’s economy and help the climate
9 Mar 2015
Australia likely has several decades of coal left in it.

How artificial lagoons can be used to harvest energy from the tides
9 Mar 2015
The search for alternative energy sources in the age of climate change has overlooked tidal energy: a vast and unexploited worldwide resource.

Carbon could be key to better water, says researcher
9 Mar 2015
Adding carbon dioxide to waste water could improve water quality, says a NIWA scientist undertaking doctoral biological research at the University of Canterbury.

Civic energy could provide half our electricity by 2050
9 Mar 2015
What would our energy system look like if the move to a low-carbon society wasn’t left to governments and big energy companies but was instead led by civil society?

Prices fail to reflect real costs of fossil fuels
9 Mar 2015
Forget the price of petrol at the pumps. The true cost of any fossil fuel is much greater if social costs are factored in, according to new research.

Waikato mine delayed, not on hold, says Fonterra
2 Mar 2015
Fonterra subsidiary Glencoal has denied suggestions that it has put its plans for an opencast mine in the Waikato on hold indefinitely following public opposition.

Sydney aims to save $600m on energy bills
2 Mar 2015
Sydney is aiming to become one of the world’s most energy-efficient cities, slashing greenhouse gas pollution and saving $600 million on energy bills by 2030.

Let's cut emissions, not worry about how
2 Mar 2015
Australia had an emissions trading scheme with a fixed price; it was one good way to encourage carbon cuts throughout the economy.

Bad news, says BP, we're looking at a 25% rise in CO2
2 Mar 2015
The British-based oil and gas giant BP says it expects global emissions of carbon dioxide to rise by a quarter in the next 20 years.

Business leaders cast wary eye over latest EU plans
2 Mar 2015
International business leaders say that the success of new climate and energy plans for Europe hang on how effectively they are implemented.

Tiny capsules can have big impact on carbon capture
2 Mar 2015
By ROGER AINES.- Using the same baking soda found in most grocery stores, researchers in the United States have created a significant advance in carbon dioxide capture.
Building performance in spotlight at Green Property Summit
2 Mar 2015
MEDIA RELEASE: The real-world performance of ‘green’ development will be under the microscope at next month’s Green Property Summit in Auckland

ETS nothing but 'words, fishhooks and traps,' says Palmer
23 Feb 2015
New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme legislation is so full of “words, fishhooks and traps” that giving sound legal advice on it to businesses is almost impossible, says one of our leading legal minds.

New Zealand’s defective law on climate change, by Sir Geoffrey Palmer
23 Feb 2015
Distinguished law fellow Sir Geoffrey Palmer, QC, has been at or near the heart of our attempts to tackled climate change for nearly three decades.

Jobs v environment: the debate Queensland can end
23 Feb 2015
Queensland has a new Labor minority government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, after the shock defeat of the Liberal National Party.

Can wave energy rise to the challenge in Australia?
23 Feb 2015
A pioneering wave farm off Perth now generating electricity is an exciting and welcome development.

Shell chief calls for climate action, but what are the motives?
23 Feb 2015
Shell chief Ben van Beurden is pointing the way for oil companies to demand greater certainty over future climate policy.

Energy Union targets renewables subsidies, boosts idle coal plants
23 Feb 2015
The European Commission’s overhaul of the EU electricity market will target national public support for renewables, while encouraging governments to pay energy companies in other member states for idle power stations.

Politicians sign cross-party climate change pact
16 Feb 2015
British politicians have signed a ground-breaking agreement on climate change.

Energy-efficiency rules fail US academic's test
16 Feb 2015
Energy efficiency rules in California have failed to cut energy consumption, suggesting that direct action is less effective than carbon pricing in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a visiting economist says.

Australia readies for first emissions auction
16 Feb 2015
Australia’s first Emissions Reduction Fund auction will be in April – a month later than the market expected.

Rice serves up double measure of biofuel and fodder
16 Feb 2015
Japanese scientists have found a potential answer to the biofuel dilemma that if you grow crops for energy, you have to sacrifice crops for food.

‘Bionic leaf’ could turn solar energy into chemicals and fuels
16 Feb 2015
Photosynthesis – turning the sun’s energy into food for plants – is the biological system that feeds the world, but despite its awesome power, the process is extremely inefficient.

EU edges toward 2018 start date for carbon reform
16 Feb 2015
European Union politicians are expected to agree on a compromise 2018 start date for reforms to the Emissions Trading System to try to bridge divisions over efforts to prop up the world's biggest carbon market.

Geoengineering might work in a rational world … but we don’t live in one
16 Feb 2015
The publication of a hefty two-volume report on geoengineering by the US National Research Council represents a marked shift in the global debate over how to respond to global warming.
Good in the Hood makes a $1m return
16 Feb 2015
MEDIA RELEASE: Z’s Good in the Hood is back for 2015, offering a share of more than $1 million to local groups that help people who need it.

Climate debt grows as Australia messes about
9 Feb 2015
Policy procrastination over climate change is costing Australia money, a new analysis shows.

Cheap fuel little help with emissions, says expert
9 Feb 2015
Cheap fuel prices will do little to help New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions profile, says transport and energy expert Professor Ralph Simms.

Asia powers into the forefront of solar revolution
9 Feb 2015
By PAUL BROWN.- China has overtaken the European Union as the largest new market for solar power.

Yes, we can live well and avoid climate disaster, says report
9 Feb 2015
The world can enjoy higher standards of living and more travel, while drastically cutting emissions to avoid dangerous climate change – but only with sweeping changes to our infrastructure, the natural world and agriculture, a new analysis has found.
Gas will replace oil in the UK – with or without fracking
9 Feb 2015
MPs in the UK recently needed more time voted against a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, but Lancashire, the local county council under most pressure, agreed it
Can Americans save the environment and expand oil drilling?
9 Feb 2015
In a few months, we will mark the five-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Canberra to get wind power from South Australia
9 Feb 2015
A South Australian wind farm has won the bid to provide the Australian Capital Territory with renewable energy.