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Jack Tame interviews outgoing Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr on Q+A and electrification tops his list of things New Zealand could do to reduce emissions affordably.
“Acceleration of decarbonisation through electrification.”
That's what outgoing Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr believes would make the biggest difference in terms of New Zealand's emissions and is something the country could afford to do. And Rewiring Aotearoa concurs.
It's the right thing for the environment and, as we outlined in our Investing in Tomorrow paper, it's the right thing for the economy, with potential savings of $11 billion a year by 2040. The argument that solving climate change is too expensive really doesn't stack up anymore.
Watch the full interview to see what he thinks of this Government's approach and his take on the soon-to-be released Second Emissions Reduction Plan.
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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