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Instead of squabbling about golf courses and gravel, Sir Ian Taylor says politicians need to focus on the solutions being developed in New Zealand right now that can reduce emissions and grow the economy. He points to Mike Casey's all-electric orchard to show that going electric is "cheaper. It’s cleaner. And it’s proof that the transition from fossil fuels to electric isn’t theoretical" and Rewiring Aotearoa's research showing that electric machines and solar makes financial sense.
As he wrote:
As we did in geothermal energy, New Zealand also once led the world in electrification.
We built the world’s first fully electric house, powered by renewable hydropower [picture above]. Reefton, on the West Coast, was the second town in the world with electric street lighting, just weeks after Paris became the first. We also built the first transmission line in the Southern Hemisphere.
But today, more than 70% of our energy supply comes from imported fossil fuels, costing New Zealand consumers $55 million a day. Most of which goes offshore.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Mike Casey and Rewiring Aotearoa have put together a powerful case for the electrification of Aotearoa. It began with the world’s first fully electric cherry orchard, which runs on 21 electric machines powered by solar energy. It’s cheaper. It’s cleaner. And it’s proof that the transition from fossil fuels to electric isn’t theoretical. It works now!
His research team has shown how solar energy, scaled nationally on our houses, businesses and farms, would significantly lower the energy costs of the country, whilst at the same time saving billions in overseas spending on fossil fuels.
Combined with the potential from supercritical geothermal, New Zealand could, once again, be a world leader. Embracing the opportunities around climate change and sustainability.
All we need is political vision and courage.
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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