ECan welcomes Energy Strategy
< ECan welcomes Energy
Strategy Environment Canterbury has welcomed the
Government’s draft Energy Strategy, saying it takes a
long-term view (to 2050) at the main areas New Zealand will
have to look at to meet our energy challenges. ECan
chairman, Sir Kerry Burke says as a regional council,
Environment Canterbury can strongly contribute to the
national objectives set out in the strategy. “We are
looking forward to submitting on the discussion document and
we will certainly focus on regional deliveries in
implementing many aspects of the strategy. Regional
councils are already busying themselves with issues like
energy efficiency, low emissions power and heat initiatives
and low carbon transport options (all listed as strategy
action areas) - so I’ll expect that regional councils in
general and Environment Canterbury in particular will be in
a strong position to deliver on national
expectations.” He says the strategy addresses resilient
low carbon transport in depth and proposes that over the
next 15 years, transport policies should allow for an
increasing proportion of bio-fuels in the country’s fuel
mix. “It seems that we can expect decisions on a minimum
bio-fuels sales obligation and the development of necessary
legislation to provide implementation, very soon,” he
says. The strategy also states that there’s a growing
sense of urgency that action must be taken to address the
global challenge of climate change. The chairman of
Environment Canterbury’s Energy portfolio, Cr Richard Budd
says the country will seriously have to start thinking about
actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if we are to meet
our obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. “As the strategy
points out transport is the real challenge and it’s a
sobering thought that the transport section is set to grow
by 35 percent in the next two decades,” he
says.
Electricity supply security also features very
strongly in the draft strategy. Cr Budd says he’s looking
forward to seeing what the government has in mind when it
considers further options to improve the security of supply
and electricity generation capacity. “We will also be
interested to see how the Energy Efficiency Strategy,
expected to be released tomorrow, ties into this,” says Cr
Budd. Ends