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Every Sunday night I sit down with my family – and about half a million other New Zealanders – to watch Country Calendar. It’s a love letter to the land and an ode to innovation and I’m always inspired by the resourceful rural folk coming up with clever ways to keep the coffers full. That is becoming increasingly difficult, however. Farmers are battling economic headwinds, global competition, synthetic substitutes and expensive – some might argue excessive – compliance, so anything that can save or make them money is about as rare as a hen’s tooth. But there is something that could potentially achieve both of those things: electricity ... The No 8 wire mentality is part of our national mythology. Early generations of farmers had to learn to be self-sufficient and make the most of the resources they had around them. What farmers have around them now is plenty of land, lots of sun and increasing demand for renewable electricity. Using and creating more electricity on NZ’s farms is in everyone’s economic and environmental interests, so let’s take a leaf out of Bill Gallagher’s book and make that No 8 wire electric.
Read moreDownload the document hereWe're throwing a price parity party as BYD announces compelling deals for new electric cars (no need to add wings to save money); another impressive New Zealand marine business E-Stroke looks to retrofit recreational boats and shows the economics stack up; Australia gets creative with its excess solar and batteries that have been installed in a few months as part of the subsidy programme now rival our third biggest power station; New Plymouth District Council gets set to benefit from a big airport solar farm; how thousands of panels are being installed and cleaned with the help of robots; and Norwegian smart charging provider Zaptec tells the inspiring tale of a man on a home petrol pump mission.
Read moreDownloadWhen many of the poles and wires went down in Southland after the recent storms, a number of homes, farms and businesses with solar and batteries were able to keep running. And TVNZ's Jared McCulloch spoke to the owners of Fairbank Farms about their experience.
Read moreDownloadThere’s plenty of energy emanating from the ground at Te Puia in Rotorua. And there’s plenty of creative energy emanating from those studying at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute. Now there’s also plenty of electric energy, because the business has upgraded its fossil fuel vehicles and added a big solar system so they can run on the sun.
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