Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

With geothermal energy exploration underway and torrefied wood pellets already in use, New Zealand could look to turn away from fossil fuels

It’s already used to rear fish, grow flowers and to lure tourists, but a site near Taupō is the world-leading next step in geothermal energy that could truly deal to our reliance on gas.

Two hours’ drive away in Kawerau, work is underway on another cutting edge energy project that could deal to our reliance on coal.

Today The Detail looks at both projects in response to feedback on our podcast about the government’s planned $1 billion Liquified Natural Gas plant, when listeners urged us to look at alternative, fossil-free energy under development.

Deep Heat is the name given to the supercritical geothermal energy project where an international group of scientists is working on a plan to drill between four and six kilometres into the earth’s crust to reach superhot fluids.

It’s a first for New Zealand, it’s got $60 million in public money through the Regional Investment Fund, and the first hole at Rotokawa Geothermal Reservoir is expected to be drilled by late next year.

It won’t replace the $1b Liquified Natural Gas plant planned to open in Taranaki as early as winter next year, and it could be decades away from being a commercial prospect. But Tim Groser, chair of the Supercritical Geothermal Project board, says New Zealand has the best chance “to try to be the first country to actually crack the engineering problem”.

“It will actually be as close to what I’d call a silver bullet in terms of what is really required on climate change,” says Groser, a former climate change minister.

He describes supercritical geothermal energy as the heat that can be extracted from fluids when they exceed 370 degrees Celcius and can be brought to the surface and still maintain the pressure at 220 bars.

“What this does is convert the form of the fluids into more like a gas which has greater density and produces approximately three to four times as much energy as conventional lower heat, lower pressure geothermal steam does. It’s a massive gain of bang for the buck,” says Groser.

He says his expert advisers tell him New Zealand is probably as big as any resource in the world in terms of supercritical geothermal energy. It lies at very shallow depths compared with most other geothermal countries and the rock is “highly permeable” enabling the geothermal fluids to flow more easily through the rocks.

In Iceland, a geothermal energy leader, work on a third supercritical energy extraction project is underway, after the previous two efforts failed. Groser says New Zealand is working closely with Iceland on the engineering challenges. The work is potentially dangerous but the biggest risk is the failure to be able to bring supercritical fluids to the surface because of the lack of technology to deal with the extreme aspects of the fluid, such as its highly corrosive nature.

“Will New Zealand ever be able to access this renewable energy? Absolutely dead certain. The question is when. Is it in our generation or will we have to wait another generation or maybe a half generation for the technologies that are being developed now,” Groser says.

Something that already is on track as a commercially viable renewable energy is just a couple of hours’ drive away in Kawerau, where Australian company Foresta is building a $300m factory to make torrefied wood pellets made from forestry waste.

The small black pellets are already in use, and being lined up to replace coal at Genesis Energy’s Huntly Power station, says Bioenergy Association head Brian Cox.

A number of high power users like Christchurch hospital, Canterbury University and food processors already have biomass-fuelled boilers but the Foresta plant would be the first in the country to commercially produce the torrefied pellets, he says.

“Additional to the domestic market is the export market, because in Asia – South Korea, Japan – there are power stations of a similar design to Huntly Power Station and so they would be potential customers.

“We get a number of calls from South East Asia from people who are looking to purchase wood fuel and the one they would really like would be the black pellets.”

As a biofuel they formed part of a plan called the Integrated Bioenergy Programme that the association submitted as an alternative to the proposed LNG plant, says Cox.

It proposed ways to free up constrained and expensive supplies of gas and electricity by speeding up biomass use.

“We haven’t had any response at all from the government because they’re focussing on the LNG option,” he says. “We’re saying, look, why can’t we repurpose the infrastructure we already have by smart thinking of converting from using that existing boiler on particular fuel.

“Some of it would be black pellets, some of it would be white pellets, we can use the cheaper chip.”

Cox says there’s enough forestry waste to meet higher demand for biomass. A small amount of carbon emissions comes from transporting and harvesting the wood but the fuel itself is carbon neutral.

“So, we need to look as a country at the holistic aspect. It is not just a forest contractor or a grower that needs to be dealt with, it’s all of us.

“It’s a fuel which is under our control.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington’s mayor says making building cheaper through a one-stop shop for consents and fixing the failed Moa Point plant will be part of a three-year council plan.

On Tuesday morning, the council released a triennium plan for the first time in nearly a decade.

It outlined a range of policy ideas councillors were advocating to get done over the council term such as establishing an office that streamlined the building consent process, improving confidence in the council and fixing its ageing infrastructure.

Wellington mayor Andrew Little said an overwhelming majority of councillors and pou iwi had pledged to support the plan at a meeting next week.

Little said the plan’s purpose was to align council staff with councillors’ priorities.

Moa Point

A major element of the plan was the Moa Point sewage plant which Little admitted to RNZ was added to the plan recently.

“Moa Point has become a prominent issue for us just in a matter of the last few weeks and we have to address it.”

One of the priorities of the council was supporting the region to negotiate a regional deal with the government after it missed a deadline to show interest in doing so, which Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described at the time as “pretty lame-o”.

Little told RNZ it was possible funding for fixing the Moa Point sewage plant could be part of those negotiations.

“It might be something that goes on the table at the beginning.”

He said he could not predict “what the prospects of that would be”.

The mayor said generally it could be possible to get Crown funding for infrastructure through those negotiations.

Consents

As part of the plan the council would develop an urban development office which it described as similar to Auckland’s Eke Panuku which was an organisation that supported development in the city.

Little told RNZ the idea would be that one person would take responsibility for a consent rather than builders being passed between several people.

“It is about trying to co-operate with applicants because, look, we want to get these developments done.”

He said there was a large amount of support for the idea amongst councillors, so he believed once the plan was signed off it would not take “too long” before it worked through council.

The council would also set KPIs for building and resource consent timelines and review fees for consents in order to bring time and cost down.

Transparency

In a pre-election report released last year, it said less than a third of Wellingtonians surveyed had trust in the council.

In the introduction to the triennium plan, Little said “that must change”.

He told RNZ transparency, particularly when a councillor or staff member made a mistake, was important.

“Most of these things are more you know, cock-up than conspiracy.”

Little said he expected there to be fewer publicly excluded meetings around the council table.

“I am paying close attention to suggestions that something might be taken to publicly excluded and I want to be satisfied it genuinely is justified.”

He said there was one situation where a councillor suggested a meeting be publicly excluded, which was rejected.

A spokesperson for the mayor confirmed it was relating to when councillor Diane Calvert was chairing a briefing which was made publicly excluded in December.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Dozens of previously unknown faultlines have been discovered under Auckland – and new work is set to find out if they are likely to cause quakes.

Scientists will soon start to dig trenches across some of the lines to see if they are active.

So far the discovery has not increased the known risk to the city.

One of the scientists, Auckland University senior lecturer James Muirhead, said any fault that had moved in the past 125,000 years was considered active.

Some of the faults could have been still for six million years – which meant they were technically not active. Others were suspected faults.

Muirhead’s team would begin by looking at some of the most likely – near Pukekohe or Drury in the city’s rural south.

Diggers would carve out four-metre deep trenches across the fault which would then be analysed to see how recently they had moved.

“So hopefully two years from now we have a really good answer to that question – whether these faultlines in Auckland are active and whether they represent a significant seismic hazard,” he said.

There was a common perception that Auckland was not very seismic but that was probably because it was compared with other places in New Zealand which was a very seismic country, he said.

It had actually experienced some significant events, like the 1891 Port Waikato quake which was strong enough to shatter windows in the city, he said.

The new potential faults were discovered when researchers analysed borehole samples.

“Basically holes that have been drilled around Auckland to look at how the sub surface has moved both up and down below our feet through time,” Muirhead said.

The team divided the lines into likely faults, possible faults and possible structures – lines that showed signs of ground movement but it was unclear why.

Two of the most prominent probable faults ran from the Waitematā to the Manukau harbours, one through Avondale, the other from Glendowie to Blockhouse Bay.

They had already been suspected but the latest research had shored them up and more accurately measured them, Muirhead said.

Some of the possible faults were around Northcote, Birkenhead and Wiri.

There were many more in the “possible structure” category which meant they needed a lot more investigation, such as in Sandringham, Newmarket and Ōtāhuhu.

The research said it was possible intense urbanisation could mask faults.

The report also revealed Auckland experienced more small earthquakes than previously thought, but Muirhead said that was likely because there was better monitoring.

The work has been partly funded by the Natural Hazards Commission which has highlighted them in its latest Resilience Highlights Report which looked into the impact of natural hazards.

The commission said even though major earthquakes remained unlikley, the findings could help decide how land is used as the city grew.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A total lunar eclipse is taking place tonight – and New Zealand has the “best seat in the world” to view it.

According to Stardome, the only lunar eclipse of 2026 (also known as a blood moon) will begin about 9.45pm.

“We are one of a few countries that will be able to witness the eclipse for its entire duration,” it said on social media.

“The best time to see the blood moon will be from midnight to 1am, with the peak of the eclipse occurring just after 12.30am (Wednesday).”

Send us your pictures of the blood moon to iwitness@rnz.co.nz

Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki earlier told RNZ lunar eclipses were not rare per se – the rarity was whether or not it was visible from your location.

“For this one in particular, we really have the best seat in the world, really. It’s really only visible for its entirety over the Pacific. And it’s the only one that we’re going to see this year. I don’t think we have another until 2028, about two years.”

With Nasa’s Artemis missions and sending people back to the moon, Aoraki said there was a lot of buzz and excitement around the moon and space exploration.

“Having this lunar event is just one of those reminders that there’s really cool things happening up there all the time.”

Aoraki said he had his “fingers crossed” that it wouldn’t be cloudy during the event.

According to MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan, the South Island and upper North Island will be the best places to see the lunar eclipse “If you’re daring enough to leave the comfort of a warm bed”.

It is likely to be cold – with single digit temperatures possible for much of the country.

“These next couple of days are for everyone who loves the feeling of being wrapped up in a cozy bed. If you had to grab an extra blanket (Sunday night), it’s probably going to be needed for the next three nights as well.”

But what do you need to see the eclipse?

Nothing special, just your eyes, Stardome said.

“Just your eyes and a clear view of the sky. Be sure to check the forecast for your local area if you’re planning to watch this dazzling celestial display.

“There will not be another total lunar eclipse until 2028, and we are among the few locations able to watch the entire event unfold over the Pacific. Only an estimated 2 percent of Earth’s population will be able to view this eclipse from beginning to end.”

According to Nasa, totality of the eclipse will also be visible in eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and North and Central America.

Partial visibility will be visible from central Asia and much of South America – but it will not be visible in Africa or Europe.

Key events – Auckland time

• 8.11pm Tuesday 3 March – Moonrise (AKL time, varies slightly between regions)
• 9.44pm Tuesday 3 March – Penumbral eclipse begins: Earth’s outer shadow starts to touch the moon.
• 10.50pm Tuesday 3 March – Partial eclipse begins: The moon begins to darken as Earth’s main shadow moves across it.
• 12.04am Wednesday 4 March – Total eclipse begins: The moon is fully immersed in Earth’s shadow and appears red.
• 12.33am Wednesday 4 March – Maximum eclipse: The moon is closest to the centre of Earth’s shadow.
• 1.02am Wednesday 4 March – Total eclipse ends: The moon begins to exit Earth’s shadow.
• 2.17am Wednesday 4 March – Partial eclipse ends: The dark shadow fully clears the moon.
• 3.23am Wednesday 4 March – Penumbral eclipse ends: The Earth’s outer shadow leaves the moon completely.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police have made the arrests, but now they are trying to find the victim after an aggravated robbery in Auckland.

They say a group of six people allegedly threatened a woman at Ellerslie Train Station on Monday afternoon before taking her personal belongings.

Auckland Transport staff saw the incident and alerted police, who then tracked the group on the rail network using cameras and arrested them.

Police said they now want to contact the victim, who was wearing a grey hooded top with a Nasa space agency logo on the front.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand