Inside New Zealand's Strategy To Curtail Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Tuesday, 29 June 2021, 6:11 am
Press Release: Kalkine

Summary

• As per a report from the Climate Change Commission, New Zealand should cut its emissions by over 35 per cent to align with the 1.5-degree Celsius pathway.
• Starting next month, the purchasers of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will receive a rebate under the government’s Clean Car feebate scheme.
• A switch to renewable energy is crucial for New Zealand in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Warming at a rapid pace, New Zealand’s climate has put people, species, and the environment at heightened health and economic risk. Amidst this climate change conundrum, experts expect the country to observe rising sea levels, melting glaciers, change in precipitation patterns and more frequent extreme weather events in the years ahead.

Meanwhile, surging greenhouse gas emissions have become a matter of concern for policymakers, who are putting their best foot forward in bringing them down.

As per the Climate Action Tracker, New Zealand needs to reduce its emissions by at least 44 per cent between 2005 and 2030 to do its fair share to keep the world within 1.5-degree Celsius of warming. Besides, the Climate Change Commission’s report states that the country should cut emissions by over 35 per cent to align with the 1.5C pathway. In any given case, the country needs to accelerate its pace of reducing carbon emissions to emerge as a role model among other developed nations.

Given this backdrop, the nation’s ongoing efforts towards lowering its net greenhouse gas emissions demand closer attention:

Clean Car Feebate Scheme Launched

The government has recently introduced a Clean Car feebate scheme to reward purchasers of electric vehicles (EVs) with a rebate and penalise buyers of higher emission vehicles with a fee, with effect from 1 July 2021. Starting next month, new car buyers will receive a rebate of NZ$8,625 on any EV costing less than NZ$80,000 or a discount of NZ$5,750 on any plug-in hybrid electric vehicle of the same value. Notably, the feebate scheme will open to all vehicles in 2022, subject to legislation being passed.

With the launch of Clean Car Discount, the government intends to put the handbrake on polluting and gas-guzzling vehicles that are making their way into the country. At present, transport makes up more than 30 per cent of long-lived greenhouse gas emissions in the country. The government expects this policy to prevent up to an estimated 9.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, supporting the country in meeting the goal of transport emissions.

Must Read: Is New Zealand transport’s transition to EVs a feasible option?

The new rebate policy has been designed to encourage EV transition while shifting New Zealanders’ focus away from fossil fuels empowering vehicles. However, the opponents are calling it a reverse ‘Robin Hood” strategy, which will impose fees on low and middle-income consumers while subsidising people wealthy enough to afford a new EV. It is yet to be seen how this policy will influence car buyers at the low end of the food chain socio-economically.

Largest Grid-Connected Solar Farm Opened

The country’s largest grid-connected solar power plant is now up and running in South Taranaki at Kapuni. The 2.1-megawatt solar power plant features about 5800 ground-mounted photovoltaic panels and can power over 500 homes. It has been developed by one of the biggest natural gas companies in the country, Todd Corporation, under the Sunergise brand.

Sunergise provides rooftop solar to commercial clients in the nation. The opening of the Kapuni Solar Power Plant represents Sunergise’s initial step in ground-mounted solar in the country.

At a time when the energy landscape is changing in New Zealand with a focus shifting on curbing carbon emissions, the launch of this solar power plant is expected to spur the transition towards renewable energy. Besides, one cannot neglect that a switch to renewable energy is crucial for the country in achieving its Paris agreement contribution as well as net-zero emissions by 2050.

Greater Focus on Green Hydrogen

Scientists are inching closer to making green hydrogen a paragon of the country’s clean energy future as the government infuses millions of dollars into a significant research effort. With around NZ$9 million boost via the government's Advanced Energy Technology Platform, scientists are looking forward to developing different ways to make green hydrogen.

Do Not Miss: Is Hydrogen the fuel of the future?

Meanwhile, Japanese general construction firm Obayashi has also recently unveiled its plan to develop a green hydrogen production facility and hydrogen business in Auckland. Obayashi will work in association with the country’s import terminal operator, Ports of Auckland, which intends to reduce its carbon emissions through this project.

Green hydrogen, which is a renewable means to store created energy, is one of the potential tools that can be used by nations to curb global emissions. Interestingly, New Zealand has an abundance of renewable energy that can be utilised to generate hydrogen as a next-generation fuel in a sustainable way. Besides, one cannot overlook substantial opportunities existing in the hydrogen market for Aotearoa, with several nations actively seeking countries to export hydrogen to them.

No doubt, New Zealand is one of the few countries that has a zero-emissions goal enshrined in law. However, much more needs to be done on the part of individuals and the government to reverse the current climate change trend and finally bring down emissions in line with what the science requires.

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