The case for energy loans: read our latest explainer
There’s plenty of energy emanating from the ground at Te Puia in Rotorua. And there’s plenty of creative energy emanating from those studying at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute. Now there’s also plenty of electric energy, because the business has upgraded its fossil fuel vehicles and added a big solar system so they can run on the sun.
As Nick Dallimore, general manager of operations and site development says, Te Puia now has five fully electric people movers to shuttle guests around to the different geothermal attractions.
It also invested in five electric utility vehicles for its maintenance and food and beverage teams to get around the site. Previously, he says they relied on noisy, smelly petrol versions that interrupted the visitor experience.
The 700kw, $1 million solar system will be paid off in under five years and, as he says, “it looks pretty cool”. Staff are now asked to plug the vehicles back in when they’re not in use, but because the business doesn’t use all the energy it’s generating, it’s always sending excess back to the grid, which helps to pay the investment off.
Te Puia is an inspirational destination, both due to the power of nature and the commitment to preserving Māori skills. Let’s hope it also inspires other businesses to go electric - for the lifetime savings, reduced emissions and increased resilience.
"We've lost the cops!" In our next instalment of Political Power, we managed to get David Seymour, deputy prime minister and leader of the Act Party, behind the wheel of a Zeekr 7x when he was in Queenstown recently. As is often the case when people take a new EV for a spin, there was much chortling as he gave it heaps up the Remarkables ski field road - and, if we take him at his word, we might even see him give Mike Casey's tractor heaps up Parliament steps in the future.
Read moreDownloadEVs are having a moment right now, so how can we get more people driving electric; Tom Selleck sums up how EV owners are feeling right now and staggering analysis shows the sun's prices have been unaffected by decades of geopolitical conflict; Scion goes solar to get off gas, while dairy farmers and homes go with solar and batteries to keep going; Saul Griffith takes his solar-powered scooter to Canberra and starts a fight with regulators; the Cancer Society's Lions Lodge in Hamilton gets some panels donated and will save $17,000 a year; and killing the Friday vibe with new studies on how fossil fuel companies made massive profits after the last energy crisis in 2022 and carbon emissions making our blood boil - perhaps quite literally.
Read moreDownloadAn electrification advocate says the rising price and falling supply of gas may not be a bad thing in the long-term. PwC research —commissioned by Gas Industry Co— has found New Zealand's gas market will need to shrink sharply as domestic supply declines. It warns this could mean business closures, job losses, and higher energy costs.