Posts Tagged ‘Primary industries’
Upcoming event: Presentation of ESR’s submission on the Second Emissions Reduction Plan
Upcoming event: ESR’s submission to the discussion document “New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan” will be presented by two of its authors, Professor Emiritus Thomas Neitzert and Dr Peter Whitmore. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session and a discussion
of next steps.
Submission in Response to New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan (ERP2)
This submission relates to information given in the Ministry for the Environment discussion document regarding the currently proposed second plan to reduce New Zealand’s emissions – New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan, July 2024 (draft ERP2). It also covers other matters relevant to reducing our emissions.
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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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Submission in response to proposed changes to NZ Emissions Trading Regulations 2024
In this submission the primary points we cover are steps that can be taken to improve the way the ETS operates, so that it becomes a lot more effective and capable of meeting the
urgent need to reduce our emissions. The possibility of replacing the current ETS with a
simple carbon tax is also covered.
Two other key points we cover are first the need for greater clarity in our net emissions measurements, and second the strong case for introducing a citizen’s dividend, funded from the revenue the Government receives from carbon charges, to compensate people for the rising costs of goods and services that will result from carbon charge increases.
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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February 2024
CONTENTS
– COP28’s potential impact on climate change
– Human ‘behavioural crisis’ at root of climate breakdown, say scientists
– Carbon released by bottom trawling
– India rebuilds coal stocks to ensure electric reliability
– World groundwater levels showing ‘accelerated’ decline
– Short extracts from Reuters website
– French farmers
– Solid state batteries update
– Information from Energy Source and Distribution magazine, Jan/Feb 2024
– Some recent statistics
August 2023
CONTENTS
– Tracking Clean Energy Progress: IEA Report
– Selected charts tracking how countries are meeting their commitments to reduce GHG emissions
– China’s Climate Priorities
– Exxon Mobil 2023 energy outlook
– Calls for crackdown on fossil fuel company greenwashing
– Solar power cell innovations break key energy threshold
– Mining giants trial world-first hydrogen pilot for alumina
– South Korea’s Kepco joins Western Australian hydrogen hub
– Prospectors hit the gas in the hunt for ‘white hydrogen’
– $4.6 billion plant in South Africa will make ‘the fuel of the future’
– Farmers on frontline as Dutch divided by war on nitrogen pollution
– World’s largest ‘wood city’ to be built in Stockholm
– Attending ESR Committee Meetings – A request for feedback
Realising our Hidden Treasure
This is a response from Engineers for Social Responsibility (ESR) to the IPENZ report Realising Our Hidden Treasure: Responsible Mineral and Petroleum Extraction.
Read MoreSubmission to the Process Heat in New Zealand: Opportunities and Barriers to Lowering Emissions
While the Process Heat in NZ report covers a lot of useful points, and while a few organisations have already achieved significant reductions in their emissions, for many others fossil fuels remain the simplest, lease expensive and best understood option to provide heat. Moving away from them would require capital funding, installation of new equipment and processes, and the expertise to achieve this. If the carbon price were sufficient to drive change, then this change would happen.
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Good Intentions? Reviewing the Government’s New Emissions Reduction Plan
New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan was released by the Ministry for the Environment on 16 May 2022. An expert panel offered its reaction and comments on the government’s emission reduction targets and on the policies and strategies to reduce emissions for sectors such as transport, energy, waste, building construction and agriculture. Challenges lie ahead if we are to make an appropriate contribution to global efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C.
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