New Energy
With global energy use predicted to balloon 50% in the next 20 years, there is a worldwide focus on developing access to new and alternative energy forms. Affordable energy empowers people to build and warm homes, cook, travel, communicate and do business. Because it is so integral to standards of living, countries are working hard to develop secure and dependable energy resources close to home, where they can guarantee continuity of supply and avoid importing expensive fuels.
Our New Energy team aims to do the same for New Zealand by building domestic capacity in a way that is compatible with our country’s unique social, environmental and economic heritage. There is a lot of work to do because New Zealand currently imports more than half of the energy it uses. Not only that, but our national energy needs are growing fast – up almost 20% in the past 10 years alone.
New Zealand’s energy potential
Fortunately New Zealand has ample energy resources to develop – from hydro and wind potential through to our many coal deposits. Already we generate 67% of our electricity using wind and hydro and that renewable capacity can continue to grow so long as it is backed up by a dependable base load of stationary energy.
But while our renewable energy is home grown, we import a significant amount of our fossil fuels, mostly in the form of oil. And because fossil fuels provide 70% of the country’s total energy needs, that makes us very reliant on overseas supply. To help ease that dependence, our New Energy team is investigating progressive technologies to responsibly develop New Zealand’s valuable coal resources, which are among the most abundant in the world.
Our goal
We aim to deliver affordable, environmentally sustainable energy to help everyday New Zealanders maintain a high standard of living while also supporting the production of world class goods that can compete in price sensitive export markets.
Some of our New Energy research projects include:
