NZ urged to take lead in biofuels field

Imported fuel accounts for a third of the country's deficit. Picture / Sylvie Whinray

The country's top energy experts have recommended that fossil fuels be largely phased out in 14 years.

A report by the Royal Society of New Zealand's Energy Panel says not enough is being done to secure energy supply, and recommends that the country move to a low or zero-carbon system for energy and transportation.

The report, 2020: Energy Opportunities, warns that pricing on greenhouse gas emissions is inevitable, and New Zealand should be prepared.

The recommendations include the rapid development of a home-grown biofuel industry to cut the 6.3 billion litres of petrol and diesel consumed each year, which comes at a cost of $4.5 billion - nearly a third of New Zealand's annual current account deficit.

It also recommends that electricity generation be fully renewable by 2020, with zero carbon emission.

Dr Jim Watson, chairman of the Energy Panel, said the opportunity for a zero-carbon electricity system is one that few countries have.

However the country's use of renewable electricity has fallen from 81 per cent in 1990 to 75 per cent in 2004.

The report says wind, geothermal and hydro generation all have great potential, but are hampered by the resource consent process. These renewable energy sources have the potential to replace coal and gas-fired generation.

Dr Watson said New Zealand could also begin to develop a biofuel industry immediately if legislation removed the barriers.

New Zealand has been slow to act, despite the Government setting a target for biofuel use by April 2008.

Dr Watson warned that relying on international markets for biofuels was "hazardous", as major producers such as Brazil and the US already had enormous domestic demand.

Dr Watson said: "Our dependence on energy, particularly the energy that comes from oil, is enormous, so we should collectively be thinking about it, and not simply wait for one group or one individual to take the blame and solve the problem.

"While we look to Government for leadership and funding, it's more than that.

"People, as energy users, are the problem, and we've all got to be part of the solution."

The report says the drive to reduce carbon emissions, such as the food miles debate in Europe, puts New Zealand's food exports at "substantial risk".

The debate centres around the fuel consumed by food as it travels from the producer to the supermarket.

Dr Watson said the response should be for New Zealand to put substance to its clean, green image.

"If we are going to maintain an image that's going to ensure that our food finds markets, we have to be exemplary in the quest for alternative energy sources.

"We can become leaders in this."

The panel wants a National Energy Taskforce set up to research, import technology and develop solutions.

"The urgency is to do it, and not to think that the rest of the world is going to solve these problems for us."


RENEWABLE FUELS

* NZ currently produces enough tallow to produce around 200 million litres of biodiesel annually, less than 5 per cent of annual diesel consumption.

* Renewable sources for transport fuels include maize, pine trees, and coppicable woody crops such as salix, a type of willow.

* Woody crops offer the best potential, with 1 million hectares able to produce 3 to 4 billion litres of bioethanol a year.

* In the North Island alone, there is more than one million hectares of marginal land suitable for energy farming. In the South Island, there are more than two million - more than enough for the country to be self-sufficient.