A North Island Maori leader is warning the Emissions Trading Scheme will incur the wrath of Maori forest owners, as well as private owners of forests planted before 1990, due to hefty deforestation liabilities. Harvey Bell, from the Morikaunui Incorporation, notes 90% of Maori-owned forested land (600,000ha) is pre-1990 forests. Bell estimates the post-harvest deforestation […]
While the fate of the Govt’s emissions trading scheme legislation was hanging in the balance at the weekend, Parliamentary opinion was swinging towards the Bill getting the numbers for its passage before the House rises. The pressure was on Green MPs to throw their support behind the Bill. They were inundated with messages from the […]
• NZ poised to make “billions.”
• Bio-fuel potential from forest waste.
• Carbon could be sequestered in soil.
A new report says NZ businesses and farmers could potentially make billions of dollars from new opportunities created by the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme. The report, by Sam Tobin of NRS Consulting for the Tindall Foundation, suggests a Fonterra-like […]
Labour and the Greens have both lambasted National’s energy policy as a giant step backwards. Deputy PM Michael Cullen predicts under National’s policy, greenhouse gas emissions and power bills will increase. Cullen accuses National of paying lip service to renewable energy but lacking serious commitment to it. He adds it is “incomprehensible how National could […]
The Govt may be close to securing the numbers to pass its controversial Emissions Trading Scheme legislation, flagship of its climate change policy. Questioned by NZ Energy & Environment Business Week, Helen Clark said through a spokesperson: “The Govt … has had constructive discussions with other parties.” The spokesperson says the PM could not confirm […]
• Gas-fired generation “essential.”
• RMA fast-track for key projects.
• Electricity Commission to go?
The National Party has announced a pragmatic energy policy, which includes gas-fired generation as part of the mix to ensure NZ has a secure electricity supply. National is promising to scrap the Govt’s 10-year moratorium on new thermal power stations if it wins […]
Energy Minister David Parker has fended off Opposition attacks in Parliament over the Govt’s track record in securing electricity supply, by outlining how much more generation and transmission capacity is being built under Labour. Parker notes the power crisis in Auckland in the late 1990s, when the lights went out in the CBD for two […]
The Govt could be forced to pay Maori up to $2bn to compensate for the impact of the Emissions Trading Scheme on forestry land given to iwi under Treaty settlements. A confidential report commissioned by MAF, carried out by Christchurch valuer Donn Armstrong, shows Maori could be owed millions in compensation, because land currently in […]
Chris Mole, Associate Editor
• New method to produce algal bio-fuel.
• Algae contain up to 80% oil.
• Algal fuel “could replace oil.”
Ground-breaking research by Massey University scientists into bio-fuel production from algae has achieved international recognition after receiving an $850,000 grant from Finland’s Neste Oil. Massey researchers led by Prof Yusuf Chisti have found a way […]
Memories of the so-called “power crisis” are fading rapidly as hydro lake storage has moved steadily away from the Electricity Commission’s “min-zone.” As of last Friday, hydro lake storage had risen to 1672GWh, or 69% of average. The 30-day average weekly inflow was 474GWh or 118% of average, and meteorological experts are predicting a return […]
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