Events
Upcoming event: Insights from a community energy project
In this presentation, Stuart Potter will provide first-hand insights arising from the purchase and operation of Heart of England Community Energy, a series of three 5 MW solar energy sites based north of Stratford Upon Avon in the UK. This is one of the largest community solar farms in the UK, made up of around 60,000 solar panels, and has been generating clean and sustainable electricity since 2016.
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Upcoming event: A current perspective on local government
Crystal Beavis will talk about her experience as a first-term Councillor for Waikato District Council. Local Government plays a key role in infrastructure, engineering and related matters such as: roads, drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, building consenting, district planning and noise control. Funding pressures have been exacerbated by decreases in funding from central government, unfunded mandates, and legislated water reform.
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Watch video: Presentation of ESR’s submission on the Second Emissions Reduction Plan
Watch a video summary of ESR’s submission to the consultation document “New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan”, presented by two of its authors, Professor Emeritus Thomas Neitzert and Dr Peter Whitmore. The presentation is followed by a Q&A session and a discussion
of next steps.
Watch video: A perspective on New Zealand’s climate change policies
The policy problem of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is not simple. For most people the official numbers are confusing and the policy architecture is obscure. Speaker Geoff Bertram gets both of those into perspective and shines a spotlight on Aotearoa/New Zealand’s Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, focusing in particular on the accounting procedures that New Zealand has used to over-state its performance since 1990.
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Watch video: Athropocentric global warming – Part 2: The processes
ESR President Jeff Foley spoke at ESR’s webinar in June 2024, providing an update of his work on climate change modelling.
He developed his own global warming model in 2016, and presented it to ESR in 2017. In his spare time he has been updating and improving the work – splitting the model into three: greenhouse heating, ocean warming, and polar ice melt. In this presentation he summarizes the sound engineering principles behind the greenhouse heating process.
Watch video: Drone technology and its impacts on society
Hear Dr Karl Stol from the University of Auckland speak about drone technology. Drones have positively contributed to society by enhancing efficiency, safety, sustainability, and accessibility across various sectors. However, like many new technologies, drones come with public concerns such as privacy and airspace congestion. This presentation introduces emerging drone technology and explores its role in balancing societal benefits and mitigating negative impacts.
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