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<< back NEW ZEALAND ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT DIGEST August 18, 2004 ENERGY INDUSTRY € NGC faces questions on chances of Powerco talks The New Zealand Herald 16/08/2004. Market heavyweight NGC Holdings will tomorrow face a barrage of questions over its plans for mergers with rivals as it reveals its full-year earnings. With the energy sector in a state of flux over ownership, investors want news on the chances of revived talks with fellow listed energy firm Powerco (which now has a new Australian controlling shareholder in Prime Infrastructure). As for the profit - in February, NGC recorded net earnings of $50.7 million for the six months ended December 31, 2003. More... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/businessstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3584435&thesection=business&thesubsection=energy&thesecondsubsection=electricity&thetickercode=NGC € Aussie Prime pumping for more Kiwi energy assets The Sunday Star-Times 15/08/2004. The new Australian owner of Taranaki-based lines business Powerco sees its purchase as a “beachhead” to acquire other New Zealand infrastructure assets. Prime Infrastructure chief executive Chris Chapman said his company was ready for new opportunities fitting its investment criteria. “There are still 22 independent transmission businesses in New Zealand that present such an opportunity,” he told the Sunday Star-Times. “But our next task is to bed down our new acquisition and get to know Powerco’s management team - with whom we are impressed,” he said. More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3003646a13,00.html € Powerco investors given warning over brokers The Dominion Post 12/08/2004. The Shareholders’ Association is warning Powerco’s 20,000 small shareholders that brokers paid by Prime Infrastructure to advise on its takeover offer have a conflict of interest. Prime Infrastructure has hired five of New Zealand’s main brokers to advise clients on its $2.15 a share takeover offer. The five are Forsyth Barr, ASB Securities, ABN Amro Craigs, First New Zealand Capital and UBS Warburg. More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2999866a13,00.html ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY € More questions than answers in latest generation decision Scoop.co.nz 13/08/2004. The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) today supported comments by Electricity Commissioner Roy Hemmingway about Government support for the new Huntly e3p power plant. ENA chairman Warren Moyes said the ENA supported the Electricity Commissioner’s concerns relating to the balance between private and public ownership in the electricity sector. More... http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0408/S00171.htm WASTE € Poo pots to be issued in alpine waste trial The Timaru Herald 11/08/04. Poo pots are putting in an appearance at Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park this season. The pots have been brought in as the attitude about disposing of human faeces in the alpine environment has changed – out of sight, out of mind is no longer acceptable, and nor is kicking one’s waste down a crevasse. Community relations spokesperson Shirley Slatter said the trial scheme would use biodegradable cornstarch bags in which to wrap faeces, which are then stored in a screw-lid plastic pot until the contents can be disposed of in a park toilet or in the effluent drum outside the visitor centre in the village. The pots will be sterilised and re-used. More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2999353a7693,00.html € Canterbury waste plan backed The Press 12/08/2004. A key Christchurch City Council committee has backed an innovative plan to reduce the amount of waste pouring into Canterbury landfills. The sustainable transport and utilities committee yesterday supported turning Christchurch’s three transfer stations – at Parkhouse Road, Metro Place and Styx – into sorting facilities where dumped recyclable materials can be taken out of the waste stream. The Recovered Materials Foundation (RMF) has been working on the proposal for a year. More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3000795a7693,00.html RECYCLING € Packaging accord signed NZPA 10/08/2004. The Government today signed a packaging accord to reduce waste and increase the amount of packaging that can be recycled. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs said manufacturers representing 85% of New Zealand’s packaging production had committed to the accord. “This is a great example of industry and government collaborating to address issues of concern,” Ms Hobbs said. “New Zealanders throw away about 83kg each of used packaging a year. Accord parties recognise something can be done to reduce this.” More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2998412a7693,00.html OIL € Opec’s spare capacity falls to 600,000 bpd Reuters 12/08/2004. Opec’s spare production capacity shrank to 600,000 barrels a day in July as the cartel raised output in a bid to counter high oil prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today. The Paris-based IEA in a monthly report estimated total sustainable spare capacity in the 11-member group at 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) on the 82-million-bpd world market. But it said less than half that volume was effectively available, leaving a cushion of under one per cent on world markets, compared to about 8% in 2002 when spare capacity was 6-7 million bpd. More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2999877a13,00.html GLOBAL WARMING € Offsetting Air Travel’s Greenhouse Impact National Geographic 09/08/2004. Global warming is threatening travel. What’s more, travelers themselves are contributing to it. The good news is, they can do something about it. With another heat wave in Europe, melting glaciers, shrinking Antarctic ice shelves, and revelations that Alaska’s permafrost is turning to mush, it’s clear that global warming is changing destinations around the world—especially high latitudes, high altitudes, and low seacoasts. More... http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/08/0809_040809_travelwatch_air_travel.html#main € National urges Kyoto caution The New Zealand Herald 10/08/2004. The National Party says it will scrap any carbon tax on the statute books when it next takes office. It will also pull out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2013 if the Government has committed New Zealand to climate change policies tougher than our major trading partners beyond that point. The policy, tabled in Parliament last week, has been greeted with scorn by Climate Change Minister Pete Hodgson, who sums it up as “Do nothing then throw in the towel.” More... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/businessstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3583208&thesection=business&thesubsection=energy&thesecondsubsection=general&thetickercode RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT € Business fears Government ‘quick fix’ on RMA The New Zealand Herald 16/08/2004. Business is betting the Government will go for an inadequate quick fix on the Resource Management Act. The Government is reviewing the law which sets the rules of engagement between developers and communities. It has to strike a balance between business and environmental lobbies in deciding how far to go. “It is a quick fix and from the Government’s point of view, it is a fix that has to go in before support from the Greens becomes more important than it currently is,” said Simon Carlaw of Business New Zealand. More... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/businessbusinessstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3584436&thesection=business&thesubsection=general&thesecondsubsection=&thetickercode= CONSERVATION € DOC slaps locks on high country beauty spot The Sunday Star-Times 15/08/2004. Lex Perriam would drive his children and grandchildren for picnics at Canyon Creek, on the South Island’s beautiful high-country Birchwood Station. Mark Allen would also take his kids for picnics and tramping up in the scenic Ahuriri Valley, to Mt Barth. But that was before the government bought the station for $10 million in the name of “public access” - and slapped a padlock on the gate. More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3003633a7693,00.html POLLUTION € Contractor pulls out of Mapua chemical site cleanup The Nelson Mail 13/08/2004. The Australian contractor for the $6.5 million Mapua chemical site cleanup project has pulled out without explanation. Further delays are expected in the project, which is already running behind schedule. Tasman Mayor John Hurley, who is hoping the Ministry for the Environment (MOE) will take over the project, said Theiss Services is in the process of cutting all ties and he had no idea why. Theiss Services project engineer Ian Cunningham, who returned to Australia earlier this month, said: “ It was a decision made above me and I can’t say any more than that.” More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3001952a7693,00.html WATER € Farm changes causing ‘water rush’ in Canterbury NZPA 10/08/2004. Some regions in the South Island are facing a “water rush” from farmers converting from lambs and wool to higher-value intensive dairying cropping, says an environmental lobbyist. “Water is fast assuming the value of gold in Canterbury,” Forest and Bird conservation manager Kevin Hackwell said yesterday. “There is a gold rush mentality as farms convert to dairying, but it is putting enormous strain on the environment.” More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2997452a3600,00.html ORGANICS € Big Business support Organics Scoop.co.nz 12/08/2004. An Organic Forum for Business being held on Tuesday August 24th has got the interest of big business. The Organics sector is still one of the fastest growing sectors in New Zealand and a range of conventional and not-so conventional businesses want to be a part of its success. The forum is seeing strong interest from companies such as Zespri, Agriculture NZ, Fresh Direct, and FRENZ. More ... http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0408/S00139.htm SUSTAINABILITY € Cabinet maker creates cardboard coffins The Timaru Herald 11/08/2004. Timaru Boys High School horticulture teacher Keith Edwards’ interest in environmental matters has led him to an interesting part-time profession – making cardboard coffins. Mr Edwards, who is also a cabinet maker, had been making wooden coffins for about a year when a customer inquiry prompted him to investigate the more environmentally-friendly cardboard variety. The cardboard coffins have a wooden base, cardboard sides and a cardboard lid, and can be transported using three special wooden arms under the coffin, rather than the handles used on wooden coffins. More... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2999360a7693,00.html << back |