ENERGY INDUSTRY

€    Powerco quarter profit takes jump
The New Zealand Herald 28/07/2004. Gas and electricity networks company Powerco’s net profit after tax for the three months to June was $14.4 million, up from $13.1 million for the same period last year.  Chairman Barry Upson told the company’s annual meeting in Wellington yesterday that Powerco’s more favourable result for the June quarter indicated this year’s earnings would outstrip last year’s.  More… http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/businessstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3580752&thesection=business&thesubsection=energy&thesecondsubsection=general&thetickercode=PWC

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

€    Clean Electricity From Sugar Cane Using Fuel Cell Technology
Yahoo News 29/07/2004. Intelligent Energy Inc., a leading energy solutions business, today announced that it has successfully completed trials of its ethanol based fuel cell technology system. These trials show that sufficient electricity can be generated for a rural home from equipment little larger than a shoebox, using fuel derived from sugar cane.  More…

€    Glimpse of the future from hydrogen-based fuel trials
The Press 30/07/2004. Nikkei reports that Honda Motor Company, working with Kagoshima University and Yakushima Denko Co, has conducted field trials of a fuel cell vehicle that runs on hydrogen produced using Yakushima Island’s abundant water resources. The trials gave a glimpse of a future hydrogen-based society because the rare experiment involved running the vehicle without using any fossil fuels. More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2983184a30,00.html

WASTE DISPOSAL

€    Pipeline for Christchurch’s poo problem
TVNZ 29/07/2004. The Christchurch City Council has come up with a solution to its wastewater problems. It is a $50 million project that will see a three kilometre pipeline built off the New Brighton coast to pump wastewater far out to sea.  More… http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/439105%3fformat=html

WATER

€    Hobbs launches Lake Taupo plan
NZPA 30/07/2004. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs today launched a plan to improve and protect Lake Taupo’s water quality. The Government has targeted Lake Taupo for extensive research funding, with concerns high nitrogen levels are leading to deteriorating lake health, and problems with weeds and slime growth. The plan announced today will cost $82 million, of which the Government will contribute $37m, Environment Waikato $27m and Taupo District Council $18m. More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2987551a7693,00.html  

€    Motorists may pay for Auckland water pollution
The Central Leader 28/07/2004. Industry and motorists could be taxed for the pollution they cause under radical plans to improve beaches and harbours. Local councils are urged to consider emergency measures to cope with a massive gap in stormwater infrastructure funding. Auckland will be short of $2 to $3 billion over the next 20 years to meet community expectations over water quality, according to a consultant’s report published earlier this year. More…http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2985277a7693,00.html

CONSERVATION

€    Conservationists excited by discovery of kiwi egg
NZPA 30/07/2004. The discovery of a dead kiwi egg in the Pukaha Mt Bruce forest is being hailed as a breakthrough for the restoration of kiwi to Wairarapa and the New Zealand mainland. The egg was discovered in a burrow high on a ridge above the National Wildlife Centre during routine monitoring of the resident kiwi population last week. It was found that the male kiwi incubating the egg had stopped for some  reason and it was dead and had been buried under the burrow nest.  More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2987505a7693,00.html

€    Conservation Week in a year of environmental peril
Scoop.co.nz 30/07/2004. On the eve of Conservation Week, Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says both the conservation estate and New Zealand’s wider environment are under unprecedented pressure and concerned Kiwis should mobilise to defend them. “Conservation needs you as never before,” said Ms Fitzsimons, the Green Party’s Conservation and Environment Spokesperson. More ... http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00535.htm

€    Cheese lovers give their all to threatened penguin
Scoop.co.nz 30/07/2004. Thousands of New Zealand cheese lovers are taking the time to help the threatened Hoiho – or yellow-eyed penguin. Since May, Mainland Products has boosted its sponsorship of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, with an extra $1 donation for each entry returned as part of its “Help our Hoiho” promotion. Mainland has sponsored the Trust for 15 years and this latest campaign will bring that sponsorship closer to the magic $1 million mark. More… http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0407/S00387.htm

€    ECan pins hopes on moth to beat weed
The Press 30/07/2004. Environment Canterbury (ECan) hopes to introduce an exotic moth into New Zealand to control the invasive South African weed known as boneseed. Boneseed has long worried government authorities because of its ability to mass produce and cause environmental damage to coastal cliffs, dunes and grasslands. The South African moth, the boneseed leafroller, is one of the weed’s natural predators and is viewed by scientists as a good, long-term biological control agent. More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2987454a7693,00.html

€    Plans for conservation park at Clearwater
The Press 28/07/2004. A massive conservation park, six times the size of Hagley Park, could be developed on a 1200ha block adjoining Christchurch’s luxury Clearwater Resort. The area, east of Christchurch Airport, is owned predominantly by the Diana Isaac Conservation Trust, the Isaac Wildlife Trust and Clearwater. More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2984452a7693,00.html

€    Marine reserve will quadruple Hauraki Gulf no-fishing zone
NZPA  02/08/2004. The Government’s conservation agency is forging ahead with a contentious marine reserve that will quadruple the Hauraki Gulf’s no-fishing area. Finalised boundaries for the monster reserve off Great Barrier Island’s northeast coast will be unveiled today after a draft proposal released early last year by the Department of Conservation (DOC) drew fierce opposition from recreational fishers, charterboat operators and some island residents. More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2989882a7693,00.html

GLOBAL WARMING

€    Data shows Amazon still ‘lungs of the world’
NZPA 29/07/2004. The Amazon deserves to be called the “lungs of the world,” as new projections show it is a net producer of oxygen despite widespread burning of the jungle, scientists say. The projections show that the trees in the world’s largest tropical forest are cleaning the air by absorbing carbon dioxide. The data collected indicates that the Amazon absorbs slightly more carbon dioxide than the burning spews out. “The indication is that it is a small net supplier of oxygen,” said Paulo Artaxo, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo. More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2986343a7693,00.html

€    Launch of Communities for Climate Protection programme
Scoop.co.nz 28/07/2004. Energy Minister and Convenor of the Ministerial Group on Climate Change, Pete Hodgson, today launched the Communities for Climate Protection (CCP) programme. The Minister welcomed the first New Zealand councils to sign up to CCP: “I’m delighted to see so  much interest in this Ministry for the Environment programme,” says Mr Hodgson. “Councils are ideally placed to lead local action on climate change within the community and I hope more will join this initiative.” More…
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00471.htm

AIR POLLUTION

€    Chch smog level dropping - study
The Press 28/07/2004. Smog from open fires and burners in Christchurch has gradually reduced over the past eight years, according to a new data analysis. Canesis engineers have crunched emission data to allow for variations in weather and in doing so have shown a downward trend of emissions by between 2 and 6 per cent each year. Environment Canterbury air quality chief Richard Budd said it showed Christchurch air was 25% cleaner than eight years ago which was “bloody good news” for the city. More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2985297a7693,00.html

INFRASTRUCTURE

€    ‘No panic’ on infrastructure - Cullen
The Dominion Post 29/07/2004. Finance Minister Michael Cullen is shooting down calls by business to more than double spending on facilities such as roads, rail and power stations. The Government was spending much more on infrastructure than the former National government did in the 1990s, he said, and he rejected any attempt to create an infrastructure “master plan”. There was no reason to “panic” as long as present levels of investment were maintained, Dr Cullen said yesterday at the launch of the newly formed Council for Infrastructure Development.
More… http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2985543a13,00.html

ELECTRICITY

€    Nats, NZAS discuss power
The Southland Times 31/07/2004. A National Party-led government would back coal-fired power generation plants to help offset electricity supply problems, National Party leader Don Brash said during his visit to Southland yesterday. Dr Brash and party energy spokesman Roger Sowry visited the New Zealand Aluminium Smelter Ltd plant at Tiwai Point to meet company management and discuss the electricity supply problems the smelter faced. More…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2988352a6160,00.html   

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