Bioenergy Association welcomes energy awards recognition

7 April 2016

Bioenergy Association media release

Bioenergy Association welcomes recognition as a leader in the energy awards

The Bioenergy Association of New Zealand (BANZ) today welcomed the announcement by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority of the association’s executive officer, Brian Cox, as a finalist for an Energy Leadership Award.

“The bioenergy sector has been growing as wood energy has become more attractive than coal. With Christchurch having installed wood fueled heat plant at two of its hospitals, and Invercargill converting from lignite to wood fuel for their Splash Palace public swimming pool, local councils are recognizing that renewable energy is good for their community.”

Mr Grant Smith, the Chair of the Bioenergy Association said “Much of the move from coal to wood for heating can be due to the focus that has been occurring on ensuring that wood fuel supply is reliable and consistent. The association’s executive lead by Mr Cox has been leading the development of standards, wood fuel suppler accreditation and managing the delivery of education packages for consultants.”

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority announced yesterday the finalists in its 2016 Energy Awards.

“It is good to see the list of finalists as it shows that government and private owned energy users are getting the message that renewable energy and energy efficiency is good for business”.

Mr Smith added, “Bioenergy is often based on well proven technology and so doesn’t require research or low probability exploration such as for petroleum, but what it needs is facilitation so as to speed up growth of the market. Leadership is key to achieving that goal.”

Background
Energy Awards https://www.eeca.govt.nz/about-eeca/eeca-awards/

The Bioenergy Association:
• Mission Statement is “to promote the maximum utilisation of all forms of sustainable bioenergy in New Zealand”.
• Vision is that “Bioenergy in all its forms will supply more than 25% of the country’s energy needs, including 30% of the country’s transport fuels by around 2040.”
• Has commissioned work by BERL which shows that the achievement of the vision above is worth around $6billion annually to NZ http://www.bioenergy.org.nz/documents/Homepage/BERL-re port-to-BANZPreliminary-EIA-of-NZBioenergy-Strategy.pdf

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