Don't listen to Old Man Gas. Ditch LNG. Support New Zealand-made energy!
It's pretty rare for someone to be invited back to the E Tipu Agri Summit two years in a row, but Mike Casey has plenty to talk about. Rewiring Aotearoa's Electric Farms paper proved there are similar benefits for the rural sector if we can turn farms into power plants and, as he says - and as he has shown on his own cherry orchard - New Zealand’s farmers could reduce their operational costs by going electric and generating a lot of their own electricity through mid-scale solar and battery systems. And they can also make money by feeding electricity back into the grid at times of high demand. “Whether in the home or on the farm, electrification is a real win-win. It’s not just the right environmental decision anymore, it’s the right economic decision. It’s a no-brainer. We just have to figure out how to make it easy.”
The LNG can has been kicked down the road, now it's time to stick it in the bin for good; EECA releases its first report on the two-way charging trial in Queenstown; the IEA releases its first electrification-focused report and says we're well and truly in the 'Age of Electricity'; two of our favourite energy nerds explain the primary energy fallacy; old EVs are more likely to pass tests than old petrol cars; who needs roads when you've got boats that work like planes?; and a spurious link between penguins and electrification.
Read moreDownloadSmart Energy Alliance spokesperson Andrew Eagles told Ryan Bridge the process for the LNG import terminal has been rushed up to this point. Eagles says it would cost New Zealanders up to $2.7 billion over 15 years, and so it's right we slow down and consider this fully.
Part of Queenstown is being turned into a testing ground for ideas that could one day help cut your power bill. A new energy sandbox is being scoped to test ideas like energy sharing, plug-in solar and solar for renters in a controlled area, before any wider rule changes. Rewiring Aotearoa's Josh Ellison spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
