50,000 Protest Mining on Conservation Land

NZHerald are reporting that 50,000 people have turned out for a protest in Auckland against the proposal to open up schedule 4 land for mining. The protest closed down Queen St for an hour and a half on Saturday morning.

Schedule 4 land is protected under the Crown Minerals Act as "high-value conservation land". It is feared that mining in these areas will be at the detriment to our 'pure nz' image and is immoral given the information we know on climate change.

The National government proposal wishes to remove a number of sites from schedule 4 protection and open them up to the mining industry, public consultation will be sought once the review is complete.

Biodiesel Subsidy in Action!

The ODT is reporting that Queenstown has opened its first biodiesel station, the beginning of a long-term aim to introduce commercial biofuel to Otago and Southland.

The project was brought to fruition by Otago Polytechnic's Center for Sustainable Practice in conjunction with the ECCA biodiesel grants scheme (mentioned in earlier blog posts) setup by the National Government.

It's great to see the biodiesel subsidies producing the results they were setup to achieve. The biofuel station offers B20 blend biodiesel with aims to offer pure biodiesel (B100) in the future.

Tidal Energy Recommendation

The Environment Court has today given a positive recommendation to Tim Groser (Conservation Minister) on a proposal by Crest Energy to generate electricity from Kaipara Harbour.

Tidal generation draws energy from the tidal movements of the ocean in localised areas such as harbours, with great potential in New Zealand to further diversify and expand renewable generation capacity.

The Kaipara Harbour has a tidal range of around 7 feet (2.10meters) and has the potential to generate 200MW from 200 turbines, which would power around 250,000 homes.

Power Reforms to have Perverse Consequences

On the 9th of December Gerry Brownlee announced plans to shake up the state owned power companies - in order to increase competition within the market. The shake up is an attempt to help stabilise rising electricity costs and increase security of supply, but there are a number of perverse consequences that will arise from these changes. It will be introduced in the house as the Electricity Industry Bill.

My first concern is the transfer of the hydroelectric stations Tekapo A and B from Meridian to Genesis, in exchange for the gas-fired Whirinaki power station. Meridian has built it's reputation as an energy supplier around being 100% renewable and this transfer of assets completely undermines Meridian's commercial image. The ability for consumers to chose their energy supplier is one of the few ways consumers can express their support for renewable energy in New Zealand. These choices provide economic signals for the market and should help guide the direction for future generation capacity. This particular asset swap will mean there is no longer a 100% renewable energy supplier in the market, reducing the consumers ability to encourage the uptake of renewables by exerting pressures on the market through choice.

My second concern is that the transfer of Tekapo A and B from Meridian will have dire consequences for security of supply. Currently, Meridian controls all eight hydroelectric power stations down the Waitaki River, but shifting control of Tekapo A and B will have downstream effects on the generation capacity of Meridians six other stations. Effectively allowing Genesis to hold Meridian at ransom and game the market, at the cost of the consumer - contrary to the aims of the reform.

The National Government should reconsider the asset swap proposed in Electricity Industry Bill, and I would urge the public to submit on this Bill during the Select Committee phase - especially in relation to consumer choice in the market to support renewable energy generation.

National / Maori ETS Agreement

The National government have recently secured support from the Maori party for the controversial amendments to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The support was secured after a number of compromises were met, they include:

Measures to halve the price impact on households,
Enhancement of energy efficiency assistance,
Treaty clause in ETS legislation,
Treaty settlements pre-ETS where iwi unknowingly disadvantaged,
Involvement in international negotiations,
Crown/iwi partnerships for afforestation programmes,
Review of permanent forest sink initiative,
Fishing industry allocation,
Agriculture advisory group on inclusion in ETS,
National Policy Statement (NPS) on biodiversity,
Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions research,
Broader environmental policy.

Of concern is the level of impact at which the concessions will have - on the scheme as a whole and in terms of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these points have not been given the level of scrutiny that is seen during the Select Committee process.

The amendments are thought to be passed over the next few weeks with the house under urgency, further reducing the level of scrutiny the amendments will receive.

Select Committtee fails to reach consensus on ETS, Government does

The finance and expenditure committee have reported back on the 16th of November, failing to reach a consensus on the Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill. The Select Committee report outlines five minority views on the Bill, after less than two months of discussion.

The report itself shows the priority the current government is putting on highly complex and potentially wide reaching climate change policy. With a five paragraph minority view from the National party in comparison to the 14 page view of the Labour party.

Criticism was raised by the Green party towards the National Government, that "having failed at the select committee stage, it is clear that the Government is intending to introduce during the committee of the whole House stage a number of significant amendments, which the select committee has not seen or discussed. This is a deeply flawed, undemocratic way of developing such important legislation and will result in serious errors."

The criticism seems to be exactly on point, with the ODT reporting today that "a deal with the Maori Party appears to have secured support for the Government to pass its troubled emissions trading scheme legislation."

The National Government approach towards climate change policy is concerning for New Zealanders because it is the second time the democratic process has been circumvented to minimise participation in order to push through legislation on the issue.

Current Situation Regarding Biofuel in New Zealand

Biofuels could play a vital role for New Zealand; they have the ability to offer a renewable fuel source and net emissions reductions to the transport sector. Correct implementation is essential to sustainably attain these benefits. A number of concerns had been raised with regards to the encouraged uptake of biofuels – biofuels may compete with food supply resulting in instability of food prices and have indirect effects on net emissions resulting from land use and land use change.

Consensus is thought to have been reached on sustainability principles for biofuel production in New Zealand, Jeanette Fitzsimon’s Sustainable Biofuel Bill received cross party support at the first reading in Parliament and is currently before the Select Committee. The Sustainable Biofuel Bill sets in place three principles to ensure biofuels are produced with tangible and observable benefits, while minimising possible social and environmental harms.

The international public policy approach towards biofuels involves subsidy schemes coupled with national mandated targets. New Zealand is out of step with the international approach because there is currently no mandated target, although subsidy and waiver schemes are in place. New Zealand was slow with the implementation of subsidy and waiver incentives, resulting in delaying growth within the industry.

The public policy in New Zealand towards biofuels has been uncertain over the past three years, caused mainly by the change in government. Policy uncertainty is further concern because it creates a lack of confidence within the industry and can discourage large investment. The absolute result is that New Zealand is falling behind in the uptake of biofuels in comparison with other countries. New Zealand needs to have a solid policy direction for biofuels in order to enhance growth within the industry.