The case for energy loans: read our latest explainer
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.
In the last Electric Avenue of 2025, we look at the two biggest trends in the world of energy; the Government goes electric for its fancy fleet upgrade; Nick Offerman offers his services to a US campaign extolling the virtues of EVs; Australia shows what's possible in new homes when you add solar, batteries and smart tech; a start-up selling portable solar and battery systems that wants it to be as easy and common as wi-fi; and The Lines Company looks to put some solar on the roof of the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House.
Read moreDownloadWhen it comes to electric farming, "the numbers are becoming undeniable," says Nicholson Poultry's Jeff Collings. With 60kW of solar, a Nissan Leaf as a 'farm quad', electric mowers, an electric ute that can run a water blaster, and even a chicken manure scraper made out of a wrecked Tesla that, as Rewiring's Matt Newman says, looks a bit like something out of Mad Max, "almost everything is electric". There aren't many others in New Zealand who have gone this far down the electric road. And, with his electric Stark Varg, the fastest off-road motorbike in the world, he's obviously having plenty of fun on that road, too.
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