Very little wind power was completed in New Zealand from 2011 to 2020 – capacity only increased 10% in 10 years. Very little geothermal was completed from 2014 to 2023 - capacity only increased 10% in 10 years. Then everything took off. Thanks, Zero Carbon Act of 2019

It was so windy yesterday I thought we might see a new daily record for wind power... but it was only 6th best. Still, 20 million kWh, that's enough to boil water for 600 million cups of tea. Data in MWh/day from app.em6.co.nz

MBIE says real electricity prices have tipped back above their pre-Covid level, Stats NZ say not yet.

New Zealand mentioned at the GeoGessr World Cup! www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7rK...

Time for some good news about the NZ electricity sector!

September 11, 2015 – Pacific Island leaders fail to shift Australia and New Zealand from open climate criminality… i.e. "to back stronger targets on limiting global warming as the showdown at the Pacific Islands Forum on Thursday ended in a stalemate." allouryesterdays.info/2025/09/10/s...

New Zealand Energy Quarterly, June 2025 Fossil fuel use continued its decline this quarter. Rolling 12-month electricity emissions (4.1 Mt CO2) are 59% below peak, gas (2.9 Mt) is 35% below peak, coal (1.3 Mt) 53% below peak, and oil (18.3 Mt) 6% below peak. [1/6]

Frankie is a fan of bike lanes. "Now I feel safe." @cyclewgtn.bsky.social #WellingtonBikeLife

More cuts to the Marsden Fund of @royalsocietynz.bsky.social. This takes it down to $10/capita in real terms when it was over $16 for most of this century. Australia's equivalent, the ARC, is NZ$42/capita, as is the US NSF (despite ongoing attempts to gut the latter). www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

...as an elected MP who is supposedly representing us, this is not OK. Help us in our call to end to fossil fuel expansion and save Denniston Plateau 👍 share our content 😊 get involved 💚 donate chuffed.org/project/1296... #StopTheFastTrack #EndCoal #ProtectDennistonPlateau #ClimateJustice

"Auckland gas lines owner Vector [said] it was changing its pricing for permanent gas disconnections ... when someone wanted the gas infrastructure taken off their property. The cost ranges from $750 to $2500." Yoo hoo Vector we see you www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

With apologies to the famous chart showing ever-rising atmospheric CO2 against any number of international reports and agreements.

UAG report and cabinet paper are out. Gluckman: Read the Interim Report’s strategic approach first (before getting lost in the operational details.) Alas, if only more of the strategic recommendations had a clear path to implementation… www.education.govt.nz/our-work/inf...

These people have no idea, like taking a butter knife into battle Instead of tackling climate change, we'll spend $100,000 on a fence🤦‍♂️ #kikorangi

I talked to @eloisegibson.bsky.social about universal Road User Charges. Govt says (a) carbon charge, ETS will sort it; (b) cutting petrol carbon charge from $450/t to $50/t -> negligible effect. They can't both be true, I don't think either of them are true. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

EVs have to be smaller!!!!!!!!!!! Even China is seeing a substantial amount of car bloat from the manufacturers!! www.wri.org/insights/ele...

Listening to an HRC webinar about the changes to research funding. It's striking how little input by academics is valued now - final decisions will be made by HRC, with science committees' input downgraded to 'advice'. Commercialisation is valued. Innovation is not. Depressing.

Attention @climateliberation.bsky.social – Hawaii proposes to reduce cruise ship numbers 50% by 2030, 75% by 2035: hidot.hawaii.gov/wp-content/u...

The highlight at the Auckland Art Gallery right now is not their expensive blockbuster but Brett Graham's "Wastelands" including an overwhelming video installation on last year's wildfire in the Whangamārino wetland. Excerpt: www.circuit.org.nz/work/whangam...

The climate advice they didn't want you to see. [finally, six days before I finish up, I get to use that headline formula 😅] www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

After a long period of fucking around, the find out period is here. "Most of Tower’s 150,000 home insurance customers will pay less, but nearly 15,000 face higher premiums – and more than 2000 will get the call they dread in coming days." newsroom.co.nz/2025/08/20/n...

Disruptive Innovation at Christchurch Airport

For comparison, here are the countries that have reduced electricity emissions the fastest. Many of these countries have reduced generation, but Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Ireland, and Greece have increased generation by up to 20% while also reducing emissions.

There are also actions that are in ERP1 & have not been repealed but on which it's not known if any work has been done. These include "Work to decarbonise aviation; Progress the decarbonisation of maritime transport; Develop energy strategies for Aotearoa" – the Energy Plan Strategy was due last yr

@kirstyjohnston.bsky.social, where you write, “Sustainable aviation fuels partnership: Collaboration with Air New Zealand on sustainable aviation fuels remains ongoing", what is your source? The Climate Commission wrote that they were unable to determine if work on a fuel mandate was ongoing.

Great article from @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social on the hollowed-out Zero Carbon Act. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

The countries cleaning up their electricity sectors fastest include a lot of countries that were fairly clean to start with. There is no correlation between the state 10 years ago and the rate of progress. The "low hanging fruit" theory does not apply.

"“We do sometimes scratch our heads about the breakdown of the earth system and unfolding mass extinction — but with the weather we’ve had lately in Christchurch — who wouldn’t want a bit of heat and sunshine?” she said."

"The agrifood sector accounts for 38 per cent of Ireland's greenhouse emissions – and just 7 per cent of gross national income. Ireland's dramatic shift towards the most polluting food sectors benefits the few while imposing huge costs on the many."

New Zealand mentioned! www.youtube.com/watch?v=drOV...

Hutt Rd and Thorndon Quay bike lanes are open. Let's have a look. youtu.be/N2aGUW0EnKw?... @cyclewgtn.bsky.social

Probably a waste of time to fact-check Shane Jones, but where he says "coal is at present keeping NZ's electricity sector intact", I draw the line. Coal provided 1.5% of electricity in the past 3 months. Gas 8%, but both coal and gas are trending down even as demand rises into winter.

Another point about the RUC proposal is that the present New Zealand system is ALREADY more anti-climate than those in nearly all other countries, which include fuel excise duties on diesel as well as petrol. The few countries that have implemented RUC for truck also charge fuel taxes. [1/5]

looks forward to working with future governments in driving greater investment in cycling. There are around 4m cycling trips per year in Otautahi, and 3.5m in Tamaki Makaurau. Investing in building those numbers matters, because doing so reduces C02 emissions. www.can.org.nz/nice #NiceToHaves

We often hear that NZ's hydropower acts to balance the variability of wind and solar. How does that look in practice? Wind (and solar, although we don't have much of that yet) is extremely variable day to day and week to week. In the past six months it's ranged from 1% to 20% of daily generation.

RUC coming for all vehicles – I looked at this a few months ago when it was floated: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

15 years after the first production EVs arrived in New Zealand, the fossil-fueled fleet is still increasing – up 792k vehicles in 10 years (+22%), fuel economy improved 8%, from 8.5 to 7.9 l/100km. New vehicles average 6.9 l/100km.

Royal Society Rutherford Medal Lecture Tour 7.00 pm Tuesday, 19 August, Palmerston North Central Library Richard Beasley Research that has challenged long-held clinical assumptions, advanced medical knowledge, and directly influenced patient care. www.royalsociety.org.nz/events/tales...

Update today for New Zealand, which was doing quite well until the new government removed all incentives. S-curves don't model tech adoption when policy shifts so dramatically. robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/

Shut down or throttle Methanex (and Tiwai Point's electricity usage), job done Incentivise industrial users to decarbonise, let's call the scheme something snappy like GIDI🤦‍♂️

In their July 2024 report, the Climate Change Commission found that 66% of the emissions reductions needed for EB2 (2026-2030) were 'at risk' and a further 2% had no policy. The figures for EB3 were even worse, at 88% and 6%, respectively.

TSUNAMI nobTerremoto de Kamchaktka Russia. 😵

Wellington is becoming a cycling city. We've fought hard for progress. But Council elections put all that at risk, with some candidates luke warm or frosty on biking. Take action today: check you are registered to vote at Vote.NZ @cyclewgtn.bsky.social @cyclingactionnz.bsky.social

I've blogged -- maybe this is one time a "per capita" / "punching above our weight" story really does make sense... excursionset.com/blog/2025/07...

Thanks ICJ, but is the NZ government listening? Is any government listening? www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/o...

tl;dr - states have obligation to prevent climate change & are responsible for failure to prevent (inc for companies in their legal jurisdiction). This will be mocked, like the Kellogg-Briand Pact 'outlawed' war. Fun fact: Kellogg-Briand was legal precedent for Nuremberg tribunals and UN Charter