2012-05-24 09:04:40 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Supreme EECA award winner Air New Zealand is delivering for NZ Inc, judges say, clocking up energy savings worth more than $540 million since starting its eco drive in 2005,
2012-05-22 09:12:13 // Idealog
Kiwi cleantech company LanzaTech has been named in the TiE50 as a leader in entrepreneurship, innovation, and management excellence for the second year in a row.
2012-05-21 08:49:14 // Idealog
Mercury Energy has developed a special fuel package for individuals and businesses who purchase the Nissan Leaf, a mass-produced, zero-emission electric car.
2012-05-15 12:04:08 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
After nearly two years at sea, the MS Tûranor PlanetSolar has become the first photovoltaic boat to sail around the world.
2012-05-08 15:44:06 // Bryan Walker
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
An extraordinary op-ed headline caught my eye in the NZ Herald this morning: “Oil and gas reserves can be part of low carbon future.”
2012-05-07 09:00:41 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Genesis Energy and US-based GreenWave Reality are pairing up to work on home energy management based on Greenwave's technology platforms.
2012-05-04 11:26:05
// The Idealog Blog
High energy prices are here to stay and frugality with our resources is our only hope for a sustainable future, writes Chris Huhne in the Guardian.
2012-04-23 10:14:12 // Idealog
Biofuel company Aquaflow is looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars globally global investors to build itself a refinery.
2012-04-19 14:03:08 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Global energy consumption rebounded in 2010 after a downturn in 2009, but the future looks bright for renewables.
2012-04-10 14:14:28 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
New Zealand’s most innovative energy-saving and renewable energy projects have been revealed, and they include an ambitious scheme to insulate the entire township of Foxton; the largest coal to wood pellet conversion in the southern hemisphere; a truck running on landfill biogas; a family-run hydro electricity scheme built on an old Otago gold mine cut; and a bank which reduced electricity use by 23 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent.
2012-03-26 14:14:16 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Some things sound too far out to be true, and in that “so crazy it just might work” basket falls these microalgae-powered lamps.
2012-03-23 16:38:16 // Idealog
Some of Scotland's marine energy leaders will be visiting New Zealand next month to share their experiences as part of the Aotearoa Wave and Tidal Energy Association’s annual conference.
2012-03-21 12:59:49 // Idealog
Renewable energy sources made up 77 percent of total annual electricity generation last year, up from 74 percent – representing progress towardthe government’s goal of 90 percent renewable generation by 2025.
2012-03-19 14:05:52 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
The annual Wind Energy Conference will be taking over Hamilton's Claudelands Event Centre next month, and its lineup is bulging with a mix of homegrown and international presentations.
2012-03-15 10:14:19 // Pattrick Smellie
// Idealog #38: workshop
| 2 comments
One of the most annoying false arguments we have in New Zealand is about where economic growth should come from.
2012-03-06 12:43:54 // Idealog
Waikato's WEL Networks Limited is looking into the economic feasibility of solar power stations, replicating the success of similar schemes overseas.
2012-03-02 15:35:56 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
There were no surprises in the release of Cleantech Group and WWF's clean energy index this week.
2012-03-02 09:09:02 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
When the tiny Swiss ski town of Tenna, population 112, needed to restore its dodgy old chair lift, the bigwigs decided to go solar.
2012-02-20 13:44:16 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
The Bioenergy Association has put out a call for the government to renew its biofuel subsidies to avert the "death" of the industry.
2012-02-10 09:58:12 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
New Zealand’s dairy farmers could shave the equivalent of the annual electricity usage of 7100 households off their power bill, a study has found.
2012-02-03 15:58:55 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
With populations constantly growing so too is the demand for energy – something New Zealand’s image as a energy-rich country can tap into by using our technology and expertise to help other countries develop their own energy resources for a fee.
2012-02-02 11:04:54 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
The country’s largest solar subdivision is on its way to Canterbury, where new homes at Christchurch's Highfield subdivision will have solar installations providing around a quarter of their energy needs.
2012-01-31 16:17:01 // Idealog
Rotorua could be getting a geothermal power plant, with the Tikitere Limited Partnership investigating resources on land between Lake Rotoiti & SH 30, Rotorua.
2012-01-31 09:39:23 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Researchers at Bio Architecture Lab and the University of Washington in Seattle have created a microbe capable of digesting seaweed and converting it into fuel.
2012-01-27 09:54:12 // Esther Goh
Fresh projections on the future of New Zealand’s energy industry have been released by the Ministry of Economic Development.
2012-01-19 16:50:33 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
Power conglomerate Meridian Energy has pulled the plug on its proposal to build a $2 billion wind farm in Central Otago.
2012-01-06 11:11:03 // Sustain Team
// The Idealog Blog
China has lifted the lid on what's said to be the world's largest battery, capable of storing 36 megawatt-hours of electricity.
2011-12-07 09:18:05 // Kate Beecroft
A new report from the OECD and the International Energy Agency says energy efficiency is the top priority for reducing carbon emissions.
2011-12-06 14:27:06 // Kate Beecroft
New Zealand business LanzaTech has received a US$3 million grant from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to speed up the commercial accessibility of the next advancement in alternative aviation fuel.
2011-11-08 17:06:25 // Sustain Team
// The Idealog Blog
Christchurch Agency for Energy this week announced the letting of contracts for feasibility studies for New Zealand's first city heating and cooling District Energy Scheme, which distributes heating and cooling energy to city buildings using an underground network of pipes.
2011-11-04 16:38:21 // Sustain Team
// The Idealog Blog
You can create energy through wave technology, likewise through solar, but how about a device that harnesses both in one? Phil Pauley’s conceptual Marine Solar Cells do just that, giving “unprecedented ability to establish photovoltaic power generation off shore”.
2011-10-18 13:06:02 // Sustain Team
// The Idealog Blog
Researchers at NMIT, led by professor Daniel Nocera, have developed a device that, just like a living leaf, converts energy from sunlight into a chemical fuel that can be stored and used later as an energy source.
2011-10-17 11:36:19 // Dr Jennifer Holmgren
// The Idealog Blog
Demand for food and fuel is growing – and this is inextricably linked to the health of our environment. We need the world's collective intellect to find answers.
2011-10-14 12:45:18 // Sustain Team
// The Idealog Blog
As a coastal country, New Zealand obviously has a lot of scope when it comes to marine energy generation. Now a fresh bout of funding from the government’s Marine Energy Deployment Fund is set to give three marine energy projects a bolster. The projects include a wave energy device for Stewart Island, turbines to generate electricity for Parnell Baths in Auckland, and funding for a cable to link a wave energy device at Moa Point in Wellington.
2011-09-14 14:33:50 // Matt Nolan
// Idealog #35: workshop
In a situation reminiscent of the 70s, the world economy has been battered by myriad oil price shocks in recent years. Can anything be done to make things better?
2011-08-30 11:04:51 // Esther Goh
Proposed changes to the oil and gas industry's exploration permit scheme are part of the government's Energy Strategy announced this morning, which emphasises fossil fuels on the back of a report that states New Zealand could earn up to $12.7 billion in royalties if current oil exploration rates were to double.
2011-08-25 12:14:33 // Jerome Partington
// Idealog #34: workshop
| 1 comment
What if we mapped our key city, Auckland, into its own bioregions? Or Christchurch, or even Hamilton? What if we identified the social capital and ecological resources available and mapped them over existing infrastructure?
2011-07-18 10:16:48 // Sustain Team
What’s been going up and down when it comes to New Zealand’s commercial energy consumption trends as of late? The New Zealand Energy Data File: 2010 Calender Year Edition, newly released by the Ministry of Economic Development, offers a mixture of results. One of the biggest trends of note is that since 1990, energy demand has, on average, grown at half the rate of GDP.
2011-07-11 11:24:29 // Duncan Greive
// Idealog #34: features
What if we could access solar energy as easily and cheaply as the grid? An idealistic young Kiwi is at the centre of a technology that could radically reshape the global economy.
2011-01-10 17:11:01 // First Light – NZ Solar Decathlon
// The Idealog Blog
In their first blog entry of 2011, and in the year they’ll be competing in the US Solar Decathlon competition (the first Kiwi team to ever do so), Victoria University’s First Light team explain why they’re so excited about the development and use of solar technologies in building, and why its benefits extend far beyond simply environmental.
2010-10-27 09:14:06 // First Light – NZ Solar Decathlon
// The Idealog Blog
With one of the 10 competitions in the Solar Decathlon 2011 being centered around communications, the First Light team tell us how strategic design company Designworks has produced the foundation for the positioning of the First LightNZ brand, as well as ongoing strategic advice leading up to the Washington event.
2010-09-13 11:50:15 // First Light – NZ Solar Decathlon
// The Idealog Blog
Welcome to first blog entry by First Light, the Kiwi team competing on the world stage against some of the world’s brightest student minds in the US Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon competition. The team won a place in the competition with a unique, solar-powered concept inspired by the “Kiwi Bach”, making them the only team from the Southern Hemisphere to have ever reached the finals of the competition. In this entry, they explain how they’re planning on overcoming the challenge of shipping a whole house halfway round the world.
2010-06-29 12:48:32 // Matt Cooney
// The Idealog Blog :: The Idealist
From the why-didn’t-they-do-it department, the grain edit blog has a sweet collection of scans from Power Styling, a 1964 book setting out some ideas to improve the US electricity infrastructure. Pretty cool.
2010-06-23 16:18:15 // Vicki Holder
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
A group of young architects from Victoria University is set to compete on the world stage against some of the world’s brightest student minds in the US Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon.
2010-05-18 11:06:13 // Vincent Heeringa
// Idealog #27: celsias
Environmental activist, lawyer and famous son, Robert Kennedy Jr says the best argument for environmental protection is neither moral nor scientific—it’s economic.
2009-07-09 09:56:21 // Amanda Cropp
// Idealog #22: now
| 2 comments
Three Fisher & Paykel veterans have a radical new design for domestic wind generation. It’s a long way from the DishDrawer.
