New Zealand carbon neutral by 2020

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20072005-15898.html

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Helen Clarke, has announced that New Zealand is aiming to be the first country to be carbon neutral by 2020, with zero net carbon emissions across all sectors.

The program will begin with six of the government’s 34 agencies, which will be carbon neutral by 2012. The remainder are to have a carbon neutral strategy in place by that date.

Climate Change Minister, David Parker, says the government is in the process of developing a New Zealand protocol for measuring and reporting emissions that is consistent with international standards.

Emissions will be measured from the 2007 calendar year onwards. Calculations will take into account energy and transport use, and waste to landfill.

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edit: carbon neutral *and* nuclear free...

Problem is we most assuredly DON'T. :eyes:

...to get into a pissing contest about how great NZ is compared to Maine or New Jersey, but what's the point?

Of the ~6,714,000,000 humans on on Earth, ~6,710,000,000 don't live in a country full of rivers, wind and volcanoes (and sheep). Unless Helen's also going to build a giant fucking glass dome over the South Pacific, it's reasonable to ponder what the folks in Tokyo, New York or Seoul are doing for energy.

You are saying this just as you were saying that Germany would be renewably powered and nuclear free.

In fact Germany is building coal plants as fast as it can at a breakneck pace.

New Zealand is using more coal than ever:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/tablee4.xls

It is putting out more carbon dioxide than ever:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/tableh1co2.xls

The growth in renewable energy in New Zealand between 2000 and 2004 was negative.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/table17.xls

In theory, but not in practice, New Zealand <em>could</em> go geothermal since the islands are volcanic. In practice though, they burn coal and natural gas. They will still be burning coal and natural gas in 2020, unless they run out of natural gas, in which case they will simply burn more coal.

Basically politicians of the Arnie Hydrogen Hummer ilk like to make promises for which the actual fulfillment will fall to future generations. This makes as much sense in New Zealand as it does in California, and it is equally as meaningless.

People buy into this credulous nonsense because it beats taking responsibility for what is happening now.

Actually I believe that New Zealand, like Costa Rica, has a better shot at using renewable energy than most countries. But it won't happen.

I will bet that no amount of tragedy between 2007 and 2020 would move you in any way. I will bet as well that in 1990, assuming you weren't five years old, you were issuing the same platitudes about 2007 that you are issuing today about 2020. In 2020, you'll have such poor integrity that you will announce that New Zealand will be carbon neutral by 2035.

I'll bet this whole bit relies on accounting tricks like your friends in Germany are pulling when they announce that their new fucking coal plants don't count.

It's hard to believe anyone
takes this seriously.

"Carbon-neutral" in this case means "zero net carbon emissions across all sectors".

Unless they have a plan to suck carbon gases out of the air, it's not really carbon-neutral. Instead, it's "zero net".

How will they achieve that "zero net"? They will "offset the remainder by purchasing carbon credits" like Meridian Energy does. Which is a way of saying "Asia will pay for assuaging our ecological guilt trip".

The Kiwis will collectively be "encouraging staff to turn off lights and equipment when not in use". Contact Energy will develop geothermal energy. Which is nice, but it doesn't mean that NZ's present dirty power sources will be shut down. The increased revenues will pay for carbon credits -- until the developed world starts complaining that the poorer countries are not keeping their promise to forgo dirty power in exchange for the carbon tax ransom.

But it looks like this was actually posted with a thumb to the anti-nuclear nose, in spite of nuclear energy not even being under discussion. Pay no attention to the ongoing environmental catastrophe -- we will be holy as long as we keep the nuclear demons at bay!

So a carbon-trading scam is being pimped as a way to bash on nuclear energy.

We are so screwed.

--p!

New Zealand has abundant geothermal, hydroelectric, wind and tidal resources - they have biomass and unexploited solar resources as well.

These resources could easily generate all of the country's electricity and home/commercial heating fuels - without coal or the *genuinely* hated nuclear option.

New Zealand's marine climate is mild and equable - inland areas see a few hot days in the summer and the extreme South Island (and Stewart Island) have snow and frost occasionally in the winter, but it's really not that bad. This greatly reduces home and commercial energy demand for heating and cooling.

NZ has excellent public transit systems - and they can easily be improved upon. You really don't need a car to get around the islands and locally produced biofuels could be used for rural transport and farm equipment.

Getting to NZ is a problem though. The tourism industry is heavily dependent on transoceanic air travel.

Other than that, NZ will have little problem becoming carbon neutral by 2020.