Topics tagged with 'Technology'
Experts slam govt decision to wind down green investment bank
9 Apr 2025
The government’s move to scrap its green investment bank is a step backwards for emissions reductions and doesn’t stack up with the National Party’s economic and energy transition strategies, according to sustainable finance experts.
Can the future of energy be affordable, secure and sustainable?
9 Apr 2025
Media release | Global experts are coming together to address the challenge of creating energy solutions that are both sustainable and achievable by 2050.
Aspiring Materials opens critical minerals pilot production plant
4 Apr 2025
Cleantech startup Aspiring Materials opened a pilot processing plant for critical minerals in Ōtautahi Christchurch last week.
Is NZ heading towards another energy crunch?
28 Mar 2025
The major gentailers all put forward positive cases at last week’s Downstream conference that they had done all they could to avert a potential energy shortage this winter.
Energy sector faces complex affordability and security issues
25 Mar 2025
Energy affordability and security of supply were the key themes of the Downstream conference in Christchurch last week.
'Fishing boat for energy' will make hydrogen as it sails
20 Mar 2025
Wind power has been rising significantly in recent years, and now accounts for about 8% of the world's energy production. By the end of the decade, it will be the second-largest renewable source after solar, having surpassed hydropower, according to the International Energy Agency.
Despite everything, US EV sales are up 28% this year
14 Mar 2025
In the US, customers are buying while there are still incentives and no extra tariffs.
Electricity Authority backs six initiatives to power the energy transition
12 Mar 2025
The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko is providing enhanced regulatory support to six initiatives through its Power Innovation Pathway to accelerate Aotearoa New Zealand's energy transition, it announced yesterday.
Saving earthquake-prone buildings could slash emissions
7 Mar 2025
Saving all of Aotearoa New Zealand's seismically-deficient buildings could avoid up to 7.4 megatonnes of carbon emissions, a new study shows.
Kiwi climate solutions up for Earthshot Prize
20 Feb 2025
An ocean remediation project, a predator-free blueprint, cleaner greenhouses, and a company recovering metals from waste are all New Zealand-based nominees for one of five NZD$1.9m Earthshot Prizes.
Carbon neutral music video - NZ's first?
7 Feb 2025
Media release | Celebrated singer and co-writer from iconic NZ band Goldenhorse, Kirsten Morrell, has today released what is said to be New Zealand's first carbon neutral music video.
What should carbon offsets really cost?
20 Dec 2024
By Jamie Heather | COMMENT: Today’s carbon prices would seem absurd in any other context.
Dame Patsy Reddy appointed Climate Change Commission chair
9 Dec 2024
Dame Patsy Reddy has been appointed the new chair of the Climate Change Commission, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced this morning.
Why rich countries are ‘reluctant’ on coal-to-clean deals
9 Dec 2024
UK and German officials have said there will likely be no more Just Energy Transition Partnerships, as the focus shifts to “country platforms” instead.
Commission recommends ‘net negative’ 2050 target
6 Dec 2024
The Climate Change Commission has recommended the government adopt more ambitious climate targets, including updating ‘net zero’ to be net negative -20 MtCO2e by 2050, as well as moving to include emissions from international shipping and aviation.
Billionaires, frequent flyers, oil and gas: Who could fund COP29’s $1tn finance target?
21 Nov 2024
“It makes common sense to tax mega polluters and the mega-rich to ensure that we have the money needed for climate action at home and globally” according to one campaigner.
Company merger to electrify marine technology
20 Nov 2024
Marine technology companies ZeroJet and Tectrax, both specialists in electric systems, are set to merge.
Why (and how) I’m taking the two tonne challenge
15 Nov 2024
OPINION: By Emily Mabin Sutton | To meet our “fair share” of international climate targets, every person on Earth needs to emit less than 2.5 tonnes of carbon each year by 2030. But what does this look like in reality in New Zealand?
A wind power crisis is holding back the world’s green energy goal
25 Oct 2024
While solar deployment is accelerating, bottlenecks in the wind industry are jeopardising the chance to meet a global target to triple renewable capacity by 2030.
Slight increase in EV sales - but uptake lagging behind other countries
22 Oct 2024
Electric vehicle sales staged a modest revival along with a mild increase in overall vehicle sales, according to an analysis by Forsyth Barr.
Solar surge will send coal power tumbling by 2030, IEA data reveals
22 Oct 2024
Global electricity generation from solar will quadruple by 2030 and help to push coal power into reverse, according to analysis of data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Genesis deal with ChargeNet gets mixed reaction
10 Oct 2024
Genesis Energy last week announced its intention to take a 65% shareholding in ChargeNet, New Zealand’s largest public electric vehicle (EV) charging network.
NZ’s decision to restart fossil fuel exploration will be ‘hard to explain to future generations’: leading climate scientist
19 Sep 2024
By Liz Kivi | The government’s plan to restart oil and gas exploration is set to lock in higher levels of global warming, according to a leading Australian climate scientist.
Electrification could save households $10 billion a year and slash climate pollution
28 Aug 2024
Electrification could save New Zealand households $10.7 billion per year by 2040 and drastically reduce emissions.
NZ and UK set to partner on offshore wind
26 Aug 2024
Favourable winds may see New Zealand collaborating with the UK on renewable offshore power generation.
Could geothermal power stations go carbon-negative?
12 Aug 2024
Retrofitting a geothermal power station could allow carbon capture from other sources like forestry residue, according to a new study.
Solar and battery use continues to rise
15 Jul 2024
Solar generation and battery storage are rising rapidly according to analysts.
Farms could be the backbone of Aotearoa’s renewable energy future
17 May 2024
If each of New Zealand’s 50,000 farms installed a midsize solar array they would generate about two-thirds of the country’s current electricity needs.
Aotearoa gives $17 million for PNG renewable energy
15 May 2024
A $17 million contribution to a renewable energy project on the Island of Bougainville is part of a $44.9 million package announced by foreign minister Winston Peter in Port Moresby earlier this week.
Kiwi company aims to make alternative protein from carbon emissions
6 May 2024
A New Zealand-based start-up has raised $1 million towards commercialising production of an alternative protein made with carbon emissions.
Fast-charger trickle begins
1 May 2024
The government has announced the first of its promised 10,000 new high-speed EV chargers will be in service by mid this year.
Kiwis still don’t understand electrifying benefits
29 Apr 2024
It will come as a surprise to many in the sector that many New Zealand households still don’t understand the benefits of electrification.
Is a storm brewing for NZ dairy production?
22 Apr 2024
By Nick Swallow | OPINION: Animal proteins make up 40% of New Zealand’s exports. So why aren’t we talking about alternative proteins, which look set to disrupt the dairy industry along with a major source of our country’s wealth?
New wind installations hit a record last year, report says
18 Apr 2024
The global wind industry installed a record 117 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity last year but needs to add triple this amount annually by the end of the decade to meet climate targets, according to an industry report.
Net zero emissions target may need strengthening: Climate Change Commission
9 Apr 2024
By Jeremy Rose | New Zealand’s current Net Zero 2050 emissions reduction target may need to be strengthened, the Climate Change Commission says in a discussion document released yesterday.
Commission rejects basis for review of methane targets - but methane vaccines could be good news for ag sector
9 Apr 2024
The Climate Change Commission has rejected the basis of a new, separate review of Aotearoa’s methane target in its advice released yesterday.
BYD warned road user charges would collapse EV market
8 Apr 2024
BYD – the manufacturer of one of New Zealand’s bestselling EVs – warned a select committee hearing submissions on the introduction of road user charges for electric vehicles that the way it was being done would collapse the country’s EV market.
New $100m ‘green’ industrial development for Auckland
2 Apr 2024
A $100 million industrial complex under construction in Auckland will incorporate low-carbon concrete and rainwater harvesting as well as generating its own solar electricity.
It’s now cheaper for Kiwis to go fully electric
18 Mar 2024
New Zealand is one of the first places in the world where electric appliances and vehicles are now more affordable than their fossil fuel equivalents, according to a new report.
BP among recipients of EECA low emission grants
22 Feb 2024
Fossil fuel giant BP is among the latest batch of recipients of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority's Low Emissions Transport Fund.
Green building retrofit designed for extreme climate change
21 Dec 2023
An Auckland building has undergone a low-carbon retrofit to withstand extreme climate change, and more than 300 tonnes of waste was diverted from landfill during construction.
Best by the rest...
1 Dec 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Helter smelter - the Tiwai Point dance begins again; the new government's climate plans include some surprises; and will reviving oil and gas exploration make NZ a ‘pariah’ state?
Call for incoming government to allow micro-cars on our roads
20 Nov 2023
By Jeremy Rose | Long-time micro-car advocate Toa Greening is calling on the incoming government to change road regulations to allow microcars - increasingly popular in Asia and Europe - on New Zealand roads.
Aotearoa could make a real impact on cutting greenhouse gas emissions internationally: Thomas Pogge
7 Nov 2023
By Jeremy Rose | The director of Yale University’s Global Justice Program, Thomas Pogge, says for a relatively small investment of, say, US$100 million, New Zealand could make a significant impact on cutting the greenhouse gas emissions of the developing world.
RB governor warns of climate change induced supply side shocks
3 Nov 2023
Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr has warned that climate change is likely to cause supply side shocks similar to those of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID pandemic.
Power between the tracks
31 Oct 2023
The gap between New Zealand’s more than 4000 kilometres of rail tracks could one day be home to solar panels generating up to 0.78 terawatt hours of electricity or 3% of the electricity produced by hydropower last year.
Climate adaptation projects sometimes exacerbate the problems they try to solve – a new tool hopes to correct that
31 Oct 2023
By Ritodhi Chakraborty and Claire Burgess | When United States aid money was used to build a seawall on Fiji’s Vanua Levu island to shield the community from rising tides, it instead acted as a dam, trapping water and debris on its landward side.
Energy companies team up on windfarm ventures
27 Oct 2023
Manawa Energy is teaming up with Pioneer Energy on plans for a new 300 MW wind farm in South Otago, expected to cost $750m to $900m. And Meridian Energy and NZ Windfarms have agreed to a 50-50 joint venture to repower and extend the Te Rere Hau wind farm in Tararua.
Profitability of status quo standing in the way of renewable energy transition
27 Oct 2023
Lack of political leadership and an industry that profits from the status quo are standing in the way of the transition to renewable electricity, according to Octopus Energy chief operating officer Margaret Cooney.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Climate experts say spring is coming earlier. How will that affect agriculture and ecosystems?
Tue 7 Apr 2026
An earlier spring affects when migratory birds arrive, leaves emerge, and fruit ripens — among plants and animals that determine ecosystem health.
$30m airline fund risks ‘burning public money’ without lasting benefit – expert
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A $30 million government package to support regional air routes risks delivering poor value for money while increasing emissions, according to transport strategist Tim Adriaansen.
Signs of jet fuel hoarding emerge in Asia on Iran oil shock
26 Mar 2026
Signs are growing that Asian countries are hoarding jet fuel after the Iran war sent oil prices surging, reflecting growing strain on the aviation industry.
Environmental groups launch legal action over Govt's 'tick-box approach' to conservation land
Today 11:30am
By Liz Kivi | Forest & Bird and the Environmental Defence Society are taking the Government to court over decisions about the future of publicly-owned land on Te Tai Poutini/the West Coast.
Genesis fires up pellet study with Nature’s Flame
Today 11:30am
By Pattrick Smellie | Genesis Energy is extending its quest for locally produced torrefied wood pellets to supplement coal and gas to fuel its Huntly power station, announcing it is investigating plant construction with established local solid fuels player Nature’s Flame.
Supply-side pressures and political uncertainty ahead for carbon market
Tue 7 Apr 2026
By Kristen Green | ANALYSIS: With failed auctions, a surge of new forestry registrations, and an election a few months away, the NZ ETS in 2026 will be subject to a mix of supply-side pressures and political uncertainty.
Oil prices choppy after expletive-laden Trump threat to Iran
Today 11:30am
Oil prices saw choppy trading on Monday after US President Donald Trump threatened to destroy critical infrastructure in Iran unless it allows ships to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
Economic contraction will impact carbon market
1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | While higher fossil fuel prices strengthen the long-run economics of decarbonisation, the current fuel crisis won’t inspire near-term confidence in the carbon market, according to Lizzie Chambers of Carbon Match.
Asia ramps up use of dirty fuels to cover energy shortfall triggered by Iran war
Thu 2 Apr 2026
South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plants
Death toll in Afghanistan flooding increases to 28, authorities say
1 Apr 2026
Afghan authorities said Monday that the death toll from severe weather that has struck swathes of the country over the past four days has increased to 28, with 49 people injured. Dozens of people have died from extreme weather in the country so far this year.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
EA entrenches 10kW export limit for residential solar
Today 11:30am
By Pattrick Smellie | The Electricity Authority intends to require all electricity networks to offer at least a 10 kilowatt (kW) export capacity for residential rooftop and other small-scale distributed generation.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Severe tropical cyclones Maila And Vaianu threaten communities in Solomon Islands, PNG and Fiji
Today 11:30am
Media release: 350.org |Two Category 3 Tropical Cyclones are currently moving through the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, while experts watch a third system potentially developing in the North Pacific.
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.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Renewable build-out runs into grid and firming limits
Today 11:30am
New Zealand's electricity market entered 2026 with renewable generation at record levels and a substantial build pipeline finally moving from paper to construction. The harder question is whether the wider system can absorb and firm that capacity fast enough.
A matter of strategy
Tue 7 Apr 2026
COMMENT: Even on the brink of a global commodities crisis, the possibilities for climate action aren't hopelessly foreclosed. Strategy can turn our fortunes around, writes David Hall.
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.”
FMA to ease conditions for green bond issues
31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Green, social and sustainability-linked bonds will face lower disclosure requirements and regulatory costs under a class exemption newly granted by the Financial Markets Authority.
New protections for NZ migratory species under UN convention
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New international protections for migratory species, including several found in New Zealand, are a positive step – but global protections won’t halt the decline of migratory species on their own, experts say.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
Media round-up
20 Mar 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Crown lawyers agree High Court could quash emissions plan if found unlawful; NZ is locked in 'disaster inertia'; and climate change is notably absent from new development laws.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
19 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s controversial changes to New Zealand’s legal framework for climate policy have thrown a spanner in the works for a long-running Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into climate change.
Lawyers complain to ombudsman over Govt failure to release LNG modelling
1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman over the Government’s failure to release information about its controversial decision to build a LNG import terminal.
Labour mulls GIDI 2.0 as factory closures mount
1 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Factory closures across the country could have been prevented if the last Labour-led government’s GIDI fund to assist companies with the cost of electrification hadn't been scrapped, Labour energy spokesperson, Megan Woods, says.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
27 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has pledged an additional $20 million to climate resilience work in Tuvalu, more than doubling Aotearoa's aid to the tiny island nation in the current financial year.
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.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
Free fares call as fuel crisis impacts school attendance
Today 11:30am
An open letter is urging the Government to make public transport free for all school children and subsidised for students under 25, as rising fuel costs begin to impact attendance and access to education across the country.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
25 Mar 2026
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Opposition in Golden Bay to a controversial gold mine at Sams Creek has flared up over the weekend after several activists briefly occupied a drilling site.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
Britain hits renewable power record in 2025, but fossil fuel use also up
Today 11:30am
Renewable power such as wind and solar provided a record 52.5% of Britain’s electricity generation in 2025, government data showed on Thursday, but fossil fuel use also rose.
Sci-tech prioritisation report is a joke that could cost NZ dearly, says NZ Association of Scientists
Thu 2 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Association of Scientists | The Prioritisation Report released yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Science Innovation and Technology Council makes a poor case for further cuts and changes to our research system.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
Fuel crisis powers surge in EV interest in Asia-Pacific region
Tue 7 Apr 2026
Motorists across the Asia-Pacific region are switching to electric vehicles at a rapid pace, as rising fuel costs due to the Middle East war force consumers and companies to reconsider their reliance on petrol and diesel vehicles.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
Dairy farmers' lack of climate action 'even bleaker' than water inaction – Upton
1 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government projections for cutting agricultural emissions are being undermined by low farmer uptake, with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warning the country is relying on “heroic” assumptions to meet its methane targets.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Fast-track approved project could deliver NZ’s largest wind farm
Tue 7 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Government |Fast-track approval has been granted for New Zealand’s largest wind farm project.
