Your questions
- What is the Government doing to encourage
energy efficient behaviour?
- What support is there for using solar energy?
- How efficient are energy efficient light
bulbs?
- How does waste contribute to climate change?
- What is the policy for recycling?
- Are there climate change resources available
for kids?
- What is a Negotiated Greenhouse Agreement?
- What are Projects to Reduce Emissions?
- What is the carbon tax?
- What's agriculture doing about climate change?
- What are sinks and sink credits?
- How is local government involved in climate
change?
- What is climate change and what effects
might it have?
What is the Government doing to encourage energy efficient
behaviour?
The Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority is implementing
the National Energy Efficiency & Conservation Strategy
through improving energy choices. To find out how to save
energy and money and reduce emissions, at home work or on
the road visit the EnergyWise
website.
The Strategy plays an important role in reducing greenhouse
gas emissions. Approximately 40% of New Zealand's emissions
reductions are expected to come from energy efficiency improvements
and renewable energy achievements of the Strategy.
The two targets of the Strategy are:
Economy-wide energy efficiency improvement of at least 20%.
30 PJ* of additional consumer energy from renewable sources.
[*A petajoule or 'PJ' is a measure that covers all different
types of energy - electricity, oil and liquid fuels, gas,
coal and other solid fuels. To put it in context PJ is equivalent
to all the energy used in Nelson or a costal tanker containing
25,000,000 litres of oil or over ten days' output from Huntly
power station at full capacity]
The Projects to Reduce Emissions programme, part of the Ministry for the Environment's policy implementation, is
another way the Government is supporting the development of
renewable energy projects. Businesses or other groups/individuals
that undertake activities to deliver measurable reductions
of greenhouse gas emissions beyond business as usual, get
awarded an incentive of emission units, or 'carbon credits'.
Fifteen projects were successful in the first tender round.
The second tender round is currently underway with six million
emission units on offer. For more information see Projects
To Reduce Emissions on the Ministry for the Environment
website.
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What support is there for using solar energy?
Financial support for renewable energy
The New Zealand Government, through the Energy Efficiency
and Conservation Authority (EECA), is offering EnergyWise
Solar Water Heating grants. These $450 grants (equivalent
to around one year interest free), are being provided to eligible
people who take out loans to purchase solar water heating
systems from accredited Solar Industries Association suppliers.
Ask your accredited supplier if you're eligible but you need
to act soon as the grants are limited.
For more information about solar water heating, a list of
accredited suppliers and details on the grant visit the Solar
Smarter website or call 0800 SMARTER (0800 762 7837).
More information on renewable energy
For more information about other forms of renewable energy
please read the Renewable
energy section on EECA's EnergyWise website.
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How efficient are energy efficient light bulbs?
Energy efficient (compact fluorescent) lights last eight
times longer than incandescent bulbs. Therefore we would expect
the resources used and the emissions produced in the manufacturing
process of one energy efficient light to be less than those
produced in the manufacture of eight incandescent bulbs.
Plus energy efficient lights use only 25% of the electricity
used by an incandescent bulb. Overseas studies have shown
that the emissions avoided (resulting from the energy savings)
by using fluorescent technology is way greater than the extra
emissions during manufacture.
Overall the 'balance' is in favour of energy efficient bulbs.
Check out the Taking
action section which will give you more tips on what you
can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (the main contributor
to global warming and climate change).
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How does waste contribute to climate change?
Organic waste, such as grass clippings and kitchen scraps,
produces methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) as it breaks
down in landfills. This is because the piles of waste in landfills
are so huge, that oxygen can't get into the waste to break
it down. The more organic waste there is in landfills, the
more methane is produced. When grass clippings or kitchen
scraps decompose in your own compost bin, plenty of oxygen
can get into the waste (i.e. smaller piles), so much less
methane is produced.
So you can do your bit to reduce climate change by composting
your organic waste instead of putting it out with your rubbish.
For some tips on home composting see the Composting
section of the Reduce Your Rubbish website.
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What is the policy for recycling?
The Ministry for the Environment is presently negotiating
a new Packaged Goods Accord with various sectors involved
in producing, using, selling and recycling/disposing of packaging.
It is our expectation that the ability of packaging materials
to be recycled will be addressed as companies and industry
groups seek to reduce the overall environmental impact of
packaging.
Under the new Accord, industry groups are required to set
targets that reduce the environmental impact of packaging
throughout its life. Targets may aim to reduce or eliminate
excessive packaging, and/or reduce the amount of energy and
resources required in production, and/or increase the proportion
of packaging that can be reused or recycled. The current draft
of the Packaging Accord is on the Packaging
Council's website.
In addition, there is a mix of other initiatives under way
to reduce the amount of material going to landfills and to
increase the rate of material being recycled. These include
encouragement of recycling services in more areas and promotion
of products made out of recycled materials. Zero
Waste's website is a good source of information on products
made from recycled material in New Zealand. The site also
describes many of the community and council initiatives underway
in different parts of the country. You may also find some
useful tips in the Shop
environmentally section of the Reduce Your Rubbish website.
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Are there climate change resources available for kids?
Check out our school stuff section on this website which includes two booklets on climate change for kids as
well as a series of questions and answers. Hard copies of
the booklets are available by ringing the Ministry for the Environment on (04) 439 7400 or email info@climatechange.govt.nz.
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What is a Negotiated Greenhouse Agreement?
A Negotiated Greenhouse Agreement (NGA) is an agreement
where the Government gives a business a partial or full
exemption from the carbon tax in return for the business
undertaking to achieve world's best practice in the management
of greenhouse gas emissions. An NGA will only be agreed to
if the business can prove that its competitiveness is significantly
at risk from the carbon tax.
The Government decided to introduce this policy to prevent
the risk of economic production moving from New Zealand
to countries with less strict climate change policies. This
could occur if the carbon tax reduced the international
competitiveness of some businesses or industries relative
to producers in other countries which do not face similar
climate change requirements. Global greenhouse gas emissions
could rise as a consequence, which would be contrary to the
objectives of the Kyoto Protocol.
For more information see Negotiated
Greenhouse Agreements on the Ministry for the Environment website.
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What are Projects to Reduce Emissions?
The Government has developed the Projects to Reduce Emissions
programme to support initiatives that will reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. Projects are activities which aim to achieve
defined reductions in emissions beyond reductions that would
have occurred without the project. In return, the Government
awards each project with Kyoto Protocol emission units, or
'carbon credits'. Projects owners are expected to be able
to sell these emissions units on the international carbon
market. Fifteen projects were successful in the first tender
round. The second tender round is currently underway with
six million emission units on offer.
For more information see Projects
To Reduce Emissions on the Ministry for the Environment
website.
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What is the carbon tax?
The Government has decided to introduce a greenhouse gas
carbon tax on carbon dioxide and fossil methane from
2007 to create an incentive to reduce emissions. The tax
will approximate the international emissions price but capped
at NZ$25 a tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. Revenue will
not be used to improve the Crown's fiscal position but will
be recycled, for example through the tax system and into
funding climate change projects and programmes.
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What's agriculture doing about climate change?
The Government and agriculture sector groups have signed
a partnership agreement on voluntary research into agricultural
greenhouse gas emissions (methane and nitrous oxide). The
memorandum-of-understanding is underpinned by an industry-led
research strategy which is being co-ordinated by the
Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium. The strategy
aims to develop safe, cost-effective greenhouse gas reduction
technologies that will seek to reduce methane and nitrous
oxide emissions from livestock by at least 20% by 2012.
For more information see Agriculture
on the Ministry for the Environment website.
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What are sinks and sink credits?
A sink is any natural or human-made system that absorbs and
stores greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. For example,
trees are sinks because as they grow, they absorb CO2
from the atmosphere and store it as carbon.
A sink credit represents one tonne of CO2 equivalent
absorbed by trees from 1 January 2008. To count as a credit,
these trees must have been planted after 31 December 1989
on land that was previously not forested prior to that date.
For more information see Sink
credits on the Ministry for the Environment website.
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How is local government involved in climate change?
Local government has a significant role to play in New Zealand's
climate change response given its regulatory and planning
powers, ownership of local infrastructure and wider environmental
guardianship.
The Government has established a New Zealand 'Communities
for Climate Protection' (CCP) programme in partnership with
the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
(ICLEI) and councils. The CCP programme, which has proven
successful offshore in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by
improving energy efficiency and conservation, enhancing sustainable
transportation and urban design, and reducing landfill emissions,
is a global programme benefiting from international best practice
and experience. It assists councils to develop emission inventories,
set targets for emission reductions and action plans for achieving
these, and monitor reductions. CCP is intended to build on
the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority's (EECA)
EnergyWise Councils Partnership, which focuses on energy efficiency.
For more information see Local
government on the Ministry for the Environment website.
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What is climate change and what effects might it have?
These questions are answered in the Climate
change questions and answers on this website.
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