energy Archive

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  Jeanette questions the wisdom of the Genesis board - by frog

  
  
  
  Jeanette asked the Minister for State Owned Enterprises in the House yesterday whether he has confidence in the board of Genesis Energy. Genesis is proceeding with a consent application for a gas fired power station for which it admits it has no gas and is not economically viable “in a real-world, commercial sense”. The Rodney [...] read more
  March 25, 2009 4:08 pm - 19 Comments
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  Reasons not to believe in John Key’s leadership - by frog

  
  
  
  The Energy [R]evolution is Greenpeace’s plan to save the planet from catastrophic climate change. Susan Sarandon narrates the first of three ‘Reasons to Believe’. This one explains why energy efficiency is so important and also so easily achieved, just by small changes such as a switch from traditional lightbulbs to more energy efficient ones. In [...] read more
  March 24, 2009 3:41 pm - 22 Comments
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  Lester Brown on cutting emissions 80% by 2020 - by frog

  
  
  
  The following YouTube clip is Part 4 from a recent lecture Lester Brown gave on Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization and will take you into the heart of the Plan B message. The presentation was to the Chemical Society of Washington on May 8, 2008. Lester, who is President of the Earth Policy [...] read more
  March 8, 2009 8:00 am - 13 Comments
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  Air Freshener: A dose of reality - by frog

  
  
  
  The This Is Reality campaign has published their latest “Clean Coal” advertisement. It was directed by Academy-award winners Joel and Ethan Coen and it’s pretty funny. There is no such thing as clean coal, Gerry. read more
  February 27, 2009 9:13 am - 9 Comments
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  Energy Minister’s recipe for economic disaster - by frog

  
  
  
  The government’s call to scrap the New Zealand Energy Strategy is yet another instance of the environment being sacrificed on the altar of exponential growth, and is a recipe for economic disaster. However, there may be a tiny silver lining. At least this time the Energy Minister has not hidden behind the farce of “balance” [...] read more
  February 26, 2009 4:14 pm - 16 Comments
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  National’s two-faced approach to Australian harmonisation - by frog

  
  
  
  I laughed out loud as I read the National Business Review’s article about how keen National is to fast track the development of a single market. Apparently Gerry Brownlee didn’t get the memo, as he has summarily torn up a long standing, well developed standards agreement with Australia in his first few weeks. The article, [...] read more
  February 2, 2009 11:32 am - 25 Comments
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  The New Copernicans - by frog

  
  
  
  It wasn’t that long ago in historical terms that Nicolaus Copernicus bucked the established western wisdom and asserted that the earth may in fact orbit the sun. He rightfully feared the retribution of the authorities and was careful to pay them tribute when he finally did publish shortly before his death. Although the evidence has [...] read more
  November 19, 2008 11:43 am - 23 Comments
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  Energy shakeup looming - by frog

  
  
  
  The DomPost Business section leads with a discussion of what national is likely to do with the imminent shakeup of our energy sector. It amounts to privatisation by other means, and sets it for a complete government sell-off to foreign investors in 2011. (No-one else could afford the $12 billion asset!) Re-combining Mighty River Power, [...] read more
  November 11, 2008 1:40 pm - 28 Comments
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  It has to be done now - by frog

  
  
  
  A thought-provoking opinion piece from New Scientist: Before long we will know whether Barack Obama meant it – when he said that, whatever the financial traumas, a national surge to equip America with home-grown, green sources of energy was his number one economic priority. Even as the votes were being cast, some said going green [...] read more
  November 7, 2008 2:32 pm - 18 Comments
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  CFL’s having a huge impact on energy and emissions - by frog

  
  
  
  The Worldwatch Institute has published its latest report on CFL’s, claiming that they are growing in use by so much that they could reduce lighting electricy demand globally by 40%. Energy savings also mean a reduction in greenhouse gases. Electric lighting consumes 19 percent of total electricity grid production and is responsible for more than 1,500 [...] read more
  October 17, 2008 5:52 pm - 25 Comments
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  National Party to dump the billion dollar Green Home Fund - by frog

  
  
  
  Last night in Auckland, National Party Climate Change Spokesman Dr. Nick Smith MP announced under pressure that National has no plans to keep the billion dollar Green Home Fund that the Greens negotiated with Labour. Speaking at the Oxfam Climate Change Debate, Smith was pressured by Minister Parker as to whether National would keep the [...] read more
  October 14, 2008 6:11 am - 62 Comments
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  Pouring cold water on the nanny state myth - by frog

  
  
  
  Showerheads and regulations have been getting a lot of airtime recently, with Nick Smith and his mates making hay with a bit of misinformation and a lot of fake moral outrage. In short, there is no regulation requiring high-efficiency shower heads of 6 litres/min in new homes. This is a patently false statement. At the [...] read more
  October 13, 2008 11:17 am - 86 Comments
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  Leonardo DiCaprio on how to vote - by frog

  
  
  
  “I’m going to vote for the candidate that I believe has the better environmental policy. I think that in the last eight years we could have done an incredible amount to change this country; be less reliant on foreign oil and start to develop alternative ways of getting energy through wind and solar power. I [...] read more
  September 29, 2008 2:26 pm - 2 Comments
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  It’s a WRAP - by frog

  
  
  
  The Greens have been working with environmental groups on a campaign to save the wild and special Mokihinui River from an inappropriate monster hydro dam. The plight of my eely cousins has compelled frog to also step back and think about our insatiable thirst for energy and its increasing pressure on the environment: not just [...] read more
  September 3, 2008 5:33 pm - 10 Comments
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  Yes to the Emissions Trading Scheme - by frog

  
  
  
  The Green Party caucus has just voted to support the Emissions Trading Scheme. I was watching caucus debate through the window and can confirm the decision did not look to be a foregone conclusion. Jeanette’s media release highlights some of the improvements to the scheme: We have always said the scheme needed to share the [...] read more
  August 26, 2008 2:30 pm - 138 Comments
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  National’s energy policy throws consumers to the wolves - by frog

  
  
  
  The more I read it, the angrier it makes me. The National Party Energy Policy makes it crystal clear that consumers will be left entirely to the whims of the pseudo-market. With the likely destruction of the Electricity Commission and the gutting of the RMA, anyone will be able to build pretty much anything they [...] read more
  August 14, 2008 5:03 pm - 45 Comments
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  National’s energy policy - by frog

  
  
  
  National’s energy policy [pdf] has some good moments.  Like for instance this: National is determined to provide clear policy settings that favour renewable electricity generation. this: Support energy efficiency by making sure the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and its programmes are well funded. and this: Introduce a $1,000 per household solar water heating grant [...] read more
  August 14, 2008 4:38 pm - 3 Comments
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  Human powered geek fest - by frog

  
  
  
  Some people will claim that the effort of generating power from human activity is pointless, because we still have to feed the human with energy first. Ignoring the fact that so much of our food is actually made of oil, humans do convert lower ordered energy (food) into what we hope amounts to higher ordered [...] read more
  August 11, 2008 12:43 pm - 5 Comments
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  Al Gore spells out the challenge - by frog

  
  
  
  I’m not sure how many frogblog readers have spent any time over at WeCanSolveIt.com, as it is pretty American centric. Nevertheless, the debate over there mimics our own climate change dialogue here in NZ, where sceptics and outright deniers try and disparage the scientists and the science of climate change. (The very same science that [...] read more
  July 18, 2008 1:46 pm - 22 Comments
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  Turning off the lights - by frog

  
  
  
  A reader sent me a link to this picture: Ha. The blogger who took the photo, building7, says it was taken at around a quarter to midnight on Sunday night without a camera flash. The companies listed are the supporters of the Powersavers campaign – Meridian, Mercury, Contact, Genesis, TrustPower and Transpower. read more
  July 8, 2008 10:44 am - 9 Comments