Energy

NIWA GM Energy, Murray Poulter, with Doug Watson and Roger Keedwell of Fonterra. (Photo: Alan Blacklock, NIWA)

The New Zealand EnergyScape project will create a data framework which relates key parameters (e.g., cost, risk, greenhouse gas emissions) across the entire New Zealand energy network. Users will then have a tool to forecast the impacts of given policy measures, such as comparing the effects of an energy future dominated by carbon sequestration and biofuels, with a future dominated heavily by renewable electricity and electric cars.
EnergyScape is well underway.

Advice to the Aussies on tunnel pollution

(Photo: Alan Blacklock, NIWA)

When the Australian government needed an independent expert opinion on the health risks of air pollution from urban road tunnels, it chose a New Zealand scientific team.
Across the Tasman, huge urban motorway projects are underway involving extensive use of tunnels. Sydney’s Orbital Motorway now has 14 km of tunnels, and up to 20 km of tunnels are mooted for central Brisbane.

Flaxroots approach to infrastructure

Inside the wharenui at Pōhatuiri Marae discussing renewable energy and efficiency options.

Last year, the Pōhatuiri Marae Trust approached NIWA about renewable electricity solutions for their marae near Waitomo. "We asked ’electricity for what?’," says NIWA energy research engineer Rilke de Vos.

Wave energy device hits the water

The proof-of-concept device (one-quarter size) hanging upside down. (Photo: Robert Stuart, IRL)

Wave energy device upright in the water during Lyttelton sea trials.

NZ impacts: quick guide
 
NIWA has produced a 4–page summary of the IPCC’s key findings on impacts of climate change for New Zealand and the South Pacific. Download the pdf at www.niwascience.co.nz/ncc or contact us to request copies.

Cutting emissions: what will it take?
In early May, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a ‘Summary for Policymakers’ of its latest report examining the options and costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Current policies and practices, it says, would see global greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow over the next few decades.

Charting the path to a hydrogen economy
The CRL Energy-led project, Transitioning to a Hydrogen Economy, is part of the search for a long-term solution to New Zealand’s need for both energy security and environmental sustainability.
A hydrogen economy offers the prospect of ‘decarbonised’, very low emissions transport, greatly reduced dependence on imported fuels, high process efficiencies, and the development of clean, efficient small-scale distributed energy systems.
Mass market hydrogen cars are still some years away, but informed investment decisions need to be made well

Mapping New Zealand’s Energyscape
 
The New Zealand Energyscape project will produce a series of interlinked maps

Here’s the context. New Zealand’s energy demand continues to grow. We are looking, as a nation, for security of supply and reduced exposure to price volatility.