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The energy system and the food system are inextricably linked, says KPMG's global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot. And there are plenty of solutions to our energy problems sitting inside the farm gate.
Proudfoot likes to talk about the three Fs: the food, the fibre, and the fuel.
Energy is often the first thing that gets mentioned by farmers when he's overseas, but there's not as much talk about it here in New Zealand. That's starting to change, however, and KPMG's annual survey of over 100 CEOs and senior leaders in the rural sector showed that electricity made it into the list of top 10 major concerns - and the concern around energy has been rising over time.
"It reflects the fact that this year we have a bit of an energy concern going on but also people are recognising that infrastructure in total is critically important to the future of the sector."
A massive spike in the diesel price got a few more thinking about how bonkers it is to import energy from overseas and, as Mike Casey says, when you generate and store your own energy and use it in your farm machines, it's like having your own private oil well and refinery.
Casey generates around 90% of the energy he needs to run the orchard and takes the rest from the grid and he says it's exciting to see so many more farmers installing solar.
"We'll continue to argue for it," says Proudfoot. "It just makes sense."
"To emphasise both the risk and the opportunity for New Zealand’s political economy, the price of Brent crude hit US$100 a barrel again on Friday, which is likely to push petrol prices back towards $3.50/litre. But New Zealand’s uptake of EVs, home solar, home batteries and grid-scale solar and batteries is lagging far behind most other countries, who have incentives and national strategies to electrify fast."
“We’ve only got one transmission line coming in through a gorge, and all our road access traverses the sides of steep mountains. ”If the line came down and road access was cut, the area’s diesel generators could run out of fuel well before the line was restored, particularly if widespread damage throughout the South Island made the emergency response slow.
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