Dennis Barnes, Chief Executive of Contact Energy is urging New Zealand Inc to move past debates on technicalities and act on the climate change challenge. “As a country I firmly believe there’s a real opportunity for us to innovate, to work together and do more to tackle climate change and Contact is keen to play a key role”, says Dennis Barnes. Contact agrees with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s recommendations that depoliticising New Zealand’s response to climate change is a key step to be taken. Decisions on how we move to a lower carbon economy need to be made,…

The roll-out of a soft plastics recycling scheme in Nelson today means New World, Countdown and Pak’nSave supermarkets in the South Island will offer the service, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith says. “The Love NZ Soft Plastics Recycling Programme is the next logical step for households in reducing waste. It means people can take the likes of bread bags, shopping bags and frozen vege bags to these supermarkets for collection, re-manufacture and re-use,” Dr Smith says. “Most households now recycle paper, cardboard, glass, metal cans and hard plastic containers, and the extra challenge with soft plastics was finding a practical…

New studies find microplastics in salt from the US, Europe and China, adding to evidence that plastic pollution is pervasive in the environment Sea salt around the world has been contaminated by plastic pollution, adding to experts’ fears that microplastics are becoming ubiquitous in the environment and finding their way into the food chain via the salt in our diets. Following this week’s revelations in the Guardian about levels of plastic contamination in tap water, new studies have shown that tiny particles have been found in sea salt in the UK, France and Spain, as well as China and now…

The Ara Timaru Campus is continuing to successfully reduce carbon emissions after converting the main heating system from coal to wood pellets. The campus is mitigating 248.04 tonnes of CO2 every year; that’s a possible 6,201 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved over the 25 year life of the boiler. The move three years ago to a wood pellet boiler has several other benefits too, Facilities staff have reported. Unlike coal, wood leaves no toxic ash behind. Formerly, two to three 40 litre drums a day of coal ash containing toxic heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium had to be…

 "The change to the constitution of Crown Irrigation Investments Limited (CIIL) to allow it to fund water storage projects that directly lead to environmental benefits is a very positive step and should be extended to recognise resilience and social benefits as well," says Infrastructure New Zealand, Chief Executive Stephen Selwood. "To date, existing rules guiding the government's irrigation investment arm have placed a too narrow focus on direct economic benefits. "This has resulted in disproportionate emphasis on maximising land use productivity and insufficient recognition of wider economic, social and environmental benefits. "Widening the criteria to include the full scope of…

The largest transition of combustion engines to pure electric shared vehicles in the Southern Hemisphere is set to get underway in Christchurch from November. Canterbury organisations and residents will soon have access to a pool of 100 pure electric vehicles, only one of a few cities internationally to offer a 100 percent electric-powered car share service. Kiwi fleet management company, Yoogo, known for its innovative approach to fleet management and leasing, was selected by the Christchurch City Council to implement the service. Yoogo has been leading the way in its use of GPS data to monitor the efficiency of its…

A new $400,000 scholarship programme to build global expertise on climate change, agriculture and food security will boost New Zealand’s contribution to agricultural greenhouse gas research say Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy. The scholarship, announced today at the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) Council meeting in Tsukuba, Japan, is a joint initiative of the GRA and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. “Finding new ways to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions is crucial to meeting our ambitious 2030 Paris Agreement targets. This scholarship builds on the $20 million a year…

New Zealand farmers and companies are starting to use Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, data analytics and automation to decrease impact on New Zealand rivers, a leading national tech expert says. In countries, right across the world the IoT devices are being used to help clean up water, New Zealand IoT Alliance executive director Kriv Naicker says. Irrigation is by far the largest use of water in New Zealand, making up 65.9 percent of water use between 2013 and 2014, the Ministry for the Environment says. Places like Israel and California have had to learn how to manage their farms…