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NZ's energy future is dark

I've already written a column on the potential fallout from surging oil prices and shortfalls in supply of transport fuels here in New Zealand but it seems the topic is still a hot one.

According to this media report the government may be contemplating the re-introduction of 1970s measures such as carless days as a way to cope with the looming problems created by the current Middle East conflict.

To be honest, I'm having trouble working out how we, one of the world's greenest nations, ended up in this position.

The vast majority of our electricity comes from renewable resources such as hydro, geothermal and wind -- yet we seem to have dropped the ball when it comes to our transport fleet.

For well over a decade now, I've been writing columns on this site extoling the benfits that would flow from actively working to transition our transport fleet to electric power and ramping up the amount of domestic solar generation.

The government's response has been anything but helpful.

While a great many other Western nations have introduced significant incentives that have made EVs more attractive and affordable, our present government seems to think that such things are unimportant. Likewise for household solar.

In fact, the current government's solution to our energy woes is to simply build a terminal and import more LNG.

Exactly how's that going to help if/when (as appears to be about to happen) the supplies of this liquified natural gas are to become hugely more expensive and more difficult to obtain?

Shouldn't the goal be to wean ourselves off a dependence on imported energy, not further our reliance on it?

Let's face it, a new LNG terminal will be an asset with very short-term value but investing the same amount of money in home-solar and EVs which can also serve as a domestic storage battery have significant long-term benefits.

The value of domestic solar and EVs go far beyond simply future-proofing our energy resilience but also have massive value in the event of civil emergencies. Making sure that most households have a degree of energy independence can be a life-saving measure as we rapidly move into an era where extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace. What good is an LNG terminal to provide fuel for thermal power stations if severe weather has crippled the national grid in some areas?

Even in the depths of winter, a few KW of solar panels and an EV in the garage to act as a storage battery could enable households to keep the lights burning and remain in contact with civil defence services by recharging powerbanks for phones while keeping radios and TVs working. On all but the darkest days, such a system would also keep the freezer running so as to ensure extended food supplies for those otherwise cut off from the rest of the world.

I really think it's time to stop and have a major rethink about our nation's energy future -- before it's too late.

Carpe Diem folks!

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