![]() The commission also proposes giving incentives for pest control, to defend the carbon already stored in established forests from being ravaged by deer and goats. It could be a One Billion Trees-style grant scheme, only focussed purely on indigenous trees, not pine and indgenous, as the current scheme is. As well as stopping the chop, the draft advice tells the Government to create incentives to create new, permanent native forests, by 31 December 2022. More timber for construction, to replace steel and concreteĭespite all the talk of planting, people felling native forest is still a sizable piece of New Zealand’s emissions.We’d need to stop cutting down existing native forests from 2025.Pine trees would continue to grow until 2030 but then taper off.Native planting would stay high until 2050.12,000 hectares of new native forest from 2021, rising to 16,000 hectares annually by 2025 and 25,000 a year by 2030.Since electricity is just one form of energy, the commission recommends thinking of it together with energy used in manufacturing, and aiming to green the overall mix. By 2035, we’ll need 20 per cent more electricity than we did in 2018, to power cars and factories. Even as demand grows, the grid will get greener: up to 95 per cent of electricity will be renewable in the 2030s. The sooner there’s an exit date, the better for planning a low-carbon future, suggested the commission. The drawn-out exit of our largest power consumer, the Tiwai aluminium smelter, is causing uncertainty for rapid solar and wind expansion, it said. Geothermal power stations releasing high levels of greenhouse gas close before 2030.More household and community power generation.More large-scale wind and solar built in the early 2020s, then a pause after Tiwai closes.No more coal-fired generation at Huntly, by the end of the decade.However, production for all other goods can continue at current levels, the commission said. The commission sees no future for aluminium in Southland or methanol in Taranaki. For higher-temperature processes, such as concrete and steel, we’ll need to decide whether to wait for low-emissions tech to be invented, try to find low-carbon solutions in New Zealand, or switch to lower-carbon overseas imports. It proposes the Government give businesses cash to make the switch. Coal boilers need to be the first priority – the commission wants to save 1.4 million tonnes of emissions each year by 2028. Wood waste from a growing number of tree plantations could be put to use. More biomass, such as wood, and (potentially) hydrogen to replace fossil fuelsįor manufacturing processes needing temperatures under 300C, it’s relatively affordable to switch to electrical or wood-fired boilers, the commission said.No new coal boilers, as soon as possible.We’ll need to walk, cycle and hop on public transport far more often, and drive less – and the Government should divvy up its transport spending accordingly, it said. Petrol, diesel and aviation fuel will need to contain an increasing proportion of biofuel. More car-sharing and rental schemes for EVsīy 2027, half of all new cars and motorbikes will need to be electric, and we’ll need to cut off petrol and diesel imports shortly after that, the commission said.Feebate or subsidy for electric cars, which could be bought in bulk to boost supply.No new or imported petrol and diesel vehicles, as early as 2030.Lower bus, train and ferry fares for under-25s and other groups.Housing needs to get denser on transport routes to give people better access to trains, buses and cycling. Commercial buildings and houses need to up their insulation and get more energy-efficient – leaving more clean energy for transport and energy. Heat pumps are already cheaper for heating homes than natural gas, and electric hot water is comparable, the commission said. By 2050, existing natural gas in buildings will be phased out.Ageing gas heating and hot water systems switch to electric or biomass when they’re replaced.No new natural gas connections to the network or bottled LPG connections after 2025.New homes one-third more energy efficient by 2035.From the Stuff report of what Ardern said: Housing Its not within the capacity of the Fish to look at all the aspects – but there are some obvious targets that we can discuss. While the news of the hour is that architect Chris Moller has left Grand Designs NZ (oh no!), and that they have not got a replacement yet (actually, they do, but I’m not going to tell you who), the REAL big issue – the news of the next decade or two or three or five – is that NZ is going to start to get serious about our commitment to the Climate Accord in Paris, and actually make some steps to do what we always said we would do.
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