by frog
…as this Taranaki Daily News editorial points out.
Published in Environment & Resource Management | Media by frog on Mon, July 3rd, 2006
Tags: environment
Kupe gas field not a silver bullet…
Published: July 3, 2006
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Umm? Was there any more content to this apart from the overly-negative title?
All I can say is that there never are any silver bullets with energy- it’s always a tradeoff.
This development of gas and hopefully oil is great for the Taranaki economy, it promotes future exploration, and it builds a reservoir of skills and knowledge that can be used for future developments. Hopefully when the Great South Basin is tapped. (Google for it)
Gas is fantastic for water heating- it is very efficient, clean burning and pretty much the standard elsewhere in the world. Using North Island electricity to heat water is very wasteful, because you convert gas/coal to heat, to electricity at 33% efficient, which then loses 5% in transmission, and another 10% in your heater. So you will be lucky to get 25% end-to-end.
Of course it is a great shame that better home insulation and especially solar hot water heating are not more widely used, especially given NZ is a sunny place…
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Just a quick link to an interesting editorial. For me the interesting aspect is how willing the Government are to cheerlead about it when they know better.
Cheers,
frog
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[Gas is fantastic for water heating- it is very efficient, clean burning and pretty much the standard elsewhere in the world. Using North Island electricity to heat water is very wasteful, because you convert gas/coal to heat, to electricity at 33% efficient, which then loses 5% in transmission, and another 10% in your heater. So you will be lucky to get 25% end-to-end.]
Thanks, I was wondering about that.
Henry
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uk_kiwi, I could not agree more. When will we see mandatory installation of solar hot water heater boosters on all new buildings, both domestic and commercial? It would seem the obvious solution to our immediate electrical network woes, assist with our carbon reduction objectives, besides encouraging new local business in manufacturing and installation. It seems like a no-brainer.
The `evacuated tube` collectors are are perfect for our sometimes cloudy and cold condtions, with a large percentage efficiency gain over traditional flat panel collectors.
I`m looking forward to when we can see one on every roof in the country.
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What this news inspires in me :
What if the company had decided not to make the business investment?
i.e. they might conclude that the gas will be worth more in another 20 years if they leave it in the ground… Or sell it to a higher bidder?
and it might be an ecologically sound decision, while sending the NZ economy down the toilet…
Just pondering. If this is a strategic resource for NZ, is it wise or sensible to leave those decisions in private hands?
There is a strong current of economic nationalism affecting hydrocarbons all around the world. As allegedly virtuous free-marketeers, are we just mugs?
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Well inspired Alistair!
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Yep… noticed that Kupe is equivalent to just 2 years present NZ consumption, (at the rate of 16% means it will last 12 years or so), and has only become economic at present day oil prices.
Which is better for the planet, investing a billion dollars in expensive gas development, knowing that we will have to replicate the exercise every two years from the end of this decade? or invest in efficiencies, renewables etc. and better design of our buildings and urban layout, and businesses!
It is mind boggling that we allow students to still ive in damp cold houses (800,000 houses dont have insulation), build new subsdivisions away from public transport routes with houses that are not passive solar, and businesses to run at half efficiency.
It makes me cry to read of tax payers money gone to subsidise oil exploration, knowing that it is not going to benefit the NZ economy longterm, nor climate stability … and highly likely to go down the guggler with no economic development of any kind.
Any southern ocean development would have to be a North Sea oil type field to even approach viability…. and I note the shell is not that enthusiastic, in spite of continuous media hype.
Paul Bruce
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Fact is, we need more oil & gas AND renewables AND efficiency, otherwise we will need rationing through crushing energy prices.
Natural gas is not just for heating and electricity BTW- a large amount goes to industrial use like fertilisers and various chemicals which are crucial for NZ’s economy. Expensive fertiliser = less farm output = recession in NZ.
With annual demand growth of 2%+ per year for electricity, generation must double in capacity every 35 years- this is where we are at. All those new houses being built totally cancel any gains in efficiency, unfortunately. (There is some scope for improving old houses at huuuuuuge cost, but the effect on total energy consumption is debateable. Here in the UK, people in well insulated houses just turn up the central heating and wear t-shirts instead of jumpers.)
It is great that the electricity companies have invested in more efficient generators, but we still need more. A series of windfarms in the far north, or perhaps along the motorways and industrial areas; would be a good start. The NIMBYS would hate it tho.
After that, if the gas reserves still look shaky, then coal or nuclear must be considered for security of supply reasons. Oil is certainly worth it if they find some- given that NZ is at the end of a very long supply chain, we will be the first to feel a 1970s style oil shock.
As for the climate, that is an insoluble problem; nothing NZ does will make any difference realistically. The well-being of NZers must come before the Kyoto treaty as Helen has basically said…
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Gas (& oil) should be reserved for industrial and chemical uses here within
NZ. Like Sweden, we should plan to for nil use of oil/gas
in 15 years, with equivalent investment into efficiencies and renewables.
Insulatiing houses reduces health bill, improves productivity etc,
wortth while in itself.
Our industries are pretty bad news, so there is some easy pickings to start with. Transport will shift to Biofuels made from waste wood, and a shift to electiricity through expansion of solar (wind, wave, tidal) matched with hydro storage, not wasteful production by burning gas.
However, thermal stations could utilise dried waste wood where appropriate
– a combo with waste geothermal heat works well.
Our cities need to be reconfigured to reduce demand on services including tranpsort, so that feet and bicycles will suffice most of the time. Goods delivered to door by service vehicles etc. Car share the norm, plus fast efficient public transport between urban nodes….. etc.
All this is great for jobs, so will stimulate our economy.
Paul Bruce
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“Insulatiing houses reduces health bill, improves productivity etc,
wortth while in itself.”
Agreed, but whether it will actually cut total energy use is debateable.
As for industry, there is no doubt that it can be made more efficient, but again there are limits to how much ‘fat’ you can cut without cutting ‘muscle’. A government which strangles the economy will soon find itself replaced by one that is more permissive.
IMHO Wind power is proven and should be used where possible, but wave and tidal are not exactly off the shelf tech. If they turn out to be expensive failures then it will hugely discredit the environmental movement.
As for transport, I doubt any susbtantial amount could be run on biofuels. It would be more efficient to invest in electric public transport, light rail and the like; as you say re-configure the cities. This may well happen anyway through expensive fuels…
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