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RNZ's Kate Newton looks at the decision to build and LNG terminal and speaks with Rewiring CEO Mike Casey, who is pushing for a portfolio approach of more big renewables, more solar on homes, farms and businesses, better use of existing gas reserves and coal and diesel if we really need it.
Casey acknowledged the "mild" irony of a renewables advocate pushing for coal and diesel. "But we're in a situation, through an energy system that hasn't been serving New Zealanders for so long ... where unfortunately we do need some fossil fuels," he said. "The way we get out of it is not investing in more fossil fuels, it's using the fossil fuels that we currently use, and figuring out how to reduce that consumption as fast as we can."
When Mike Casey bought his house near Cromwell, it came with gas bottles on the side of the home for water and an expensive diesel system for the underfloor heating. He replaced both of them with a Steibel Eltron system and it's been saving him money ever since. As technical manager Bhawesh Singh told him at the Electrify Queenstown conference, there has been a big influx in enquiries from homes looking to get off the molecules and onto electrons.
Read moreDownloadConfidence that cutting regulations to make solar power more accessible - won't jeopardise people's safety. A new Regulation Ministry reports laid out a potential blueprint to legalise plug-in solar and reduce the time and cost of panel installation. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.
The burgeoning demand for solar was also a chance to address a mismatch between the numbers of training opportunities available and young people searching for work, Casey said. "The mums of New Zealand are telling me that there's not enough apprenticeships for their kids and the solar installers of New Zealand are telling me there's not enough trained people."
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