News

Meridian Energy welcomes the government’s proposal to introduce standards and discounts incentivising cleaner vehicles in New Zealand.

Chief Executive Neal Barclay says transport represents a huge opportunity for New Zealand to reduce emissions, meet climate targets, and lower running costs for families and individuals.

Toyota New Zealand says the Government’s planned consultation on clean car standards and discounts is an encouraging step towards reducing New Zealand’s automotive carbon emissions.

The Government has proposed a clean car standard for importers and distributors as well as a clean car discount for consumers based on adding a fee to higher emitting imported new and used vehicles and a discount for low or zero emitting new and used vehicles retailing for less than $80,000.

Watercare is opting for electric-only vehicles where suitable.

It has added 23 new Hyundai electric vehicles to its passenger pool fleet – 20 Ioniqs and three Konas.

The Auckland Council-controlled organisation (CCO) says it’s no longer going to include plug-in hybrids, opting only for fully electric or conventional vehicles.

“In future, our focus will be on efficiency and fuel reductions,” a spokesperson says.

Low-Carbon Dining
It took Josh Barlow, executive chef of The Sugar Club, just over half a year to create and serve New Zealand’s first three-course “low-carbon” menu last month.

The time investment doesn’t exactly bode well for adopting a climate-friendly diet for every day. But given the global food system’s impact on the planet – said to be responsible for about one-third of the planet-warming greenhouse gases – it’s a nudge in the right direction for diners considering the greater effects of their food choices.

Vector, New Zealand’s leading distributor of electricity and gas, is exploring the possibility of turning end-of-life Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries into affordable power storage for homes and businesses.

In collaboration with Relectrify, an Australian battery control technology growth firm, the trial is testing the capability of EV batteries to be converted into electricity storage batteries.

Watercare has entered the solar energy market and installed solar panels at the Pukekohe Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The 400 ground-mounted solar panels project, creating renewable energy, is the first project of its kind for Watercare. The panels help power a pump station, which sends wastewater around one kilometre away to be processed.

Fiordland, the West Coast and Aoraki Mount Cook National Park can now be easily reached by electric vehicles thanks to the installation of three new remote public charging stations.

The new stations in Mount Cook Village, Franz Josef and Te Anau were installed by Meridian Energy and YHA New Zealand as part of the government’s Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund, administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

Longer log trains between Waingawa and Wellington will deliver clearer roads and lower greenhouse gas emissions, KiwiRail Group Chief Executive Greg Miller says.

Today KiwiRail increased the number of wagons on its daily trains transporting logs from Masterton to CentrePort.

The Dark Sky Project is a world-first fully-immersive astronomy experience free of the light pollution of the modern era. It brings together science and tātai aroraki (Māori astronomy) to tell the stories of the night sky in a profound way.

A new home for astronomy and a place to reconnect with the skies above, the $11mil Dark Sky Project tells stories and educates people on the stars we see in the total darkness of night.

Air New Zealand customers in the United Kingdom are more than twice as likely to offset the carbon impact of their flights than those based in New Zealand or Australia.
28 June 2019
This insight is one of the many gleaned through Air New Zealand’s analysis of customer behavior during the 2019 financial year, with its data revealing views on all aspects of flying – from carbon and connectivity, through to travellers’ favourite inflight drinks and meals.

New technology that sees electric vehicles supplying electricity to homes and businesses is being introduced in the Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti Gisborne, thanks to a partnership between Vector, Eastland Network and Horizon Networks.

The Vehicle to Home (“V2H”) essentially transforms electric vehicles in to mobile batteries, capable of transporting energy wherever it’s needed – be it homes, businesses or appliances, opening up exciting opportunities for customer self-sustainability and network resilience.

Oxygen Consulting today joins 101 other organisations committed to reducing carbon emissions, becoming a signatory of the New Zealand Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC).

The CLC was launched in July 2018 to promote business leadership and collective action on the issue of climate change.