There are several things to consider and to do:

1. NZ cannot abandon Kyoto. Clean-Green-NZ pulling out of the treaty would damage its prospects for implementation in the rest of the world fatally. There’s a cost that is not readily counted, of being the greenest country on the planet. (Which makes us the greenest people in the greenest country on the planet !

2. NZ must prepare for the end of cheap oil, and gas, and petrol and diesel by building more wind power stations, a better grid, more insulated (fewer rented) housing, more hydro power and biofuel infrastructure.

3. In pushing number 2 NZ also gets back towards the point of having credits to sell, making the cost of Kyoto bearable. If in addition to those, we encourage the forestry industry (and everyone else) to plant trees the credits will flow and the money will flow back. At least for a while.

Wood Pellet Fires:

A note on biofuels. Wood pellet fires are between 10 and 20% more efficient than the best woodburners, reduce particulate emissions and provide the sort of automatic control that lends itself to actual central heating and thermostatic control of home temperatures. This is a big part of the appeal of gas… it can be had with wood. Wow, the 20th century finally reaches NZ!

There is exactly one producer of pellets, in Christchurch (I think). They don’t provide service to Wellington, and there’s no backup facility. This makes it chancy to install pellet fires anywhere but ChCh or Dunedin.

Use of wood for heating to replace electricity and particularly gas needs to be encouraged, as it is CO2 neutral. The government should find a way to provide some redundancy and reliability in the production and marketing of pellets. This would encourage the forestry sector (a new market for what is usually simply waste), and push us further along the path to management of peak-oil and Kyoto obligations.

respectfully
BJ

“vind slecht over Kyoto kikker wij u committedd kennen maar toen was er het verbonden graan youse was zo overtuigd en de droefheid gaat kikker u doet weg het goede werk kikker aangaande Waitaki zonder yo het grote pijpen en spoorwegpost zonder kikkers en kikkers fwiends.. is”

Peter, why don’t you show the depth of your intellect and post in another language that more than one person can understand

Tattoo this site in your brain.