About Solid Energy

Our modern world relies heavily on two resources to manufacture a vast range of goods that we use every day - abundant, economic energy and materials, from steel to carbon fibre and silicon metal. Coal plays a major part in the availability of these around the world.

Coal produces over a third of the world's electricity and one quarter of the world's primary energy. In New Zealand agriculture, cement, timber and industrial processing rely on coal for energy, as do many hospitals and schools. However only 5% of our electricity is generated using coal.

Known global oil and gas reserves will be largely exhausted within 20 to 50 years, but abundant and accessible coal reserves will last more than 200 years. New Zealand's coal reserves are estimated to represent 1000 years of supply at the current rate of coal use in the country's primary energy production.

Renewable energy sources remain expensive and it is likely to be several decades before they become economic. Coal can bridge the gap as gas and oil reserves run out and hydro electricity opportunities diminish.