The case for energy loans: read our latest explainer
Every Sunday night I sit down with my family – and about half a million other New Zealanders – to watch Country Calendar. It’s a love letter to the land and an ode to innovation and I’m always inspired by the resourceful rural folk coming up with clever ways to keep the coffers full. That is becoming increasingly difficult, however. Farmers are battling economic headwinds, global competition, synthetic substitutes and expensive – some might argue excessive – compliance, so anything that can save or make them money is about as rare as a hen’s tooth. But there is something that could potentially achieve both of those things: electricity ... The No 8 wire mentality is part of our national mythology. Early generations of farmers had to learn to be self-sufficient and make the most of the resources they had around them. What farmers have around them now is plenty of land, lots of sun and increasing demand for renewable electricity. Using and creating more electricity on NZ’s farms is in everyone’s economic and environmental interests, so let’s take a leaf out of Bill Gallagher’s book and make that No 8 wire electric.
Read moreDownload the document hereIn the last Electric Avenue of 2025, we look at the two biggest trends in the world of energy; the Government goes electric for its fancy fleet upgrade; Nick Offerman offers his services to a US campaign extolling the virtues of EVs; Australia shows what's possible in new homes when you add solar, batteries and smart tech; a start-up selling portable solar and battery systems that wants it to be as easy and common as wi-fi; and The Lines Company looks to put some solar on the roof of the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House.
Read moreDownloadWhen it comes to electric farming, "the numbers are becoming undeniable," says Nicholson Poultry's Jeff Collings. With 60kW of solar, a Nissan Leaf as a 'farm quad', electric mowers, an electric ute that can run a water blaster, and even a chicken manure scraper made out of a wrecked Tesla that, as Rewiring's Matt Newman says, looks a bit like something out of Mad Max, "almost everything is electric". There aren't many others in New Zealand who have gone this far down the electric road. And, with his electric Stark Varg, the fastest off-road motorbike in the world, he's obviously having plenty of fun on that road, too.
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