4. STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) Link to this
to the Minister of Energy
What reports, if any, has he received on the Government’s Energy Strategy?
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Energy) Link to this
I have seen many reports supporting the Government’s view that renewables are affordable. The Energy Strategy confirms the Government’s view that all new generation should be renewable except to the extent needed to ensure security of supply. To aid the transition to more renewables we have sent a message to State-owned enterprises that we do not want more baseload thermal, and we are also considering amendments to the Electricity Act to similar effect. These steps, together with a national policy statement under the Resource Management Act, will help achieve our 90 percent renewables target in the electricity sector. New Zealand has a competitive advantage in renewables, and we are determined to seize that opportunity.
The fundamental principle is that we as a country should invest in efficiency where this is cheaper than more energy, including environmental externalities. This strategy includes the best cost-benefit analysis we have ever had. Thanks are due to the Electricity Commission, as well as to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and the Ministry of Economic Development for their parts in that. Improved energy efficiency will make us wealthier, because it reduces our ongoing energy costs, and has many ancillary benefits, including improved health. It is also crucial to achieving our environmental and sustainability goals, and I am confident that, with the help of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy, we will achieve significant advances for our citizens.
Gerry BrownleeDoes the Minister accept that there is a gap between the rhetoric of the Energy Strategy and the record of his Government, which has seen the percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources fall to an all-time low of 62 percent, has seen the use of coal increase by three times, from 4 percent to 12 percent, and the Government itself directly build the oil-fired Whirinaki power station, and give gas supply guarantees to Genesis for its E3P plant; or is the strategy just something you say you might do, but in fact not what you do?
No, I do not. I am very confident that we will achieve the objectives set out in the strategy, and, further, a lot of the criticisms that we hear from National go very close to criticising the profitability of Solid Energy. Now, I know that in recent weeks National has said that it will flog off State-owned enterprises, but it really is the first time that I have heard National say that we should reduce their profits so we can flog them off cheaply. We really are determined to achieve increases in renewables, decreases in greenhouse gases—
No, Dr Smith, it is not going backwards. Dr Smith in the last couple of months has, of course, misled the House by telling us that we are burning more coal this year, when in fact we are burning less.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. It is surely unacceptable for a member to allege that someone has misled the House when the fact is that the Opposition member has been able to table material in the House that verifies the claim is correctly made that the use of coal for energy production in this country has increased three times under the Labour Government.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen
Madam SPEAKER
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
I seek leave to table the Government’s own climate change document, which shows a threefold increase in the amount of greenhouse gases coming from the electricity sector.
The second document refers to the comments by Dr Nick Smith when he misrepresented the facts in saying that coal usage last year went up, when, in actual fact, it went down.
Peter BrownNoting that one of the aims stated this morning is to improve the efficiency of appliances, has the Minister given any thought at all to restricting the purchase or use of plasma flat-screen TVs, as apparently the Australians are considering?
No, I am not aware of any such proposal. I am, though, aware from comments that Jeanette Fitzsimons emphasised this morning that some of the most cost-effective gains in energy efficiency have been from measures that the Government has already taken to knock off the least efficient appliances coming into the country. I think, from memory, that the cost to taxpayers was something like $3 million for those new efficiency standards and that already the energy savings for consumers have exceeded $60 million—I think those were the two figures.
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
Does the Minister agree that the measures in the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy that he and I launched this morning, providing for better urban planning, better facilities for walking and cycling, more priority for public transport, and a 10 percent reduction in single-person car trips in cities, will contribute substantially to reducing the congestion in Auckland described in yesterday’s New Zealand Herald article?
Just as Dr Cullen acknowledged in his answer to an earlier question, those things will make a material, positive difference in reducing congestion, as will the significant amounts that have been spent to unlock the roading network.
Heather RoyHas the Minister seen any reports critical of the ministry’s biofuels strategy in light of Fred Pearce of the New Scientist reporting that biofuels will trash rainforests, suck water reserves dry, kill off species, and, worst of all, barely slow down global warming, and that the overall benefits are far from conclusive; and will he concede that the main benefactors of Labour’s biofuel plans will be wealthy American farming lobbyists?
No, I certainly would not concede the latter point. I do agree that we need to take care with biofuels that we do not, as we fix one environmental and social problem, cause another. To that end the Government has put increased emphasis on sustainability guidelines relating to biofuels, at the behest of the Greens but, I am sure, supported by other parties, as well.
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
I seek leave to table the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy that was launched this morning.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
I seek leave to table a chart showing the increased emissions that have come from coal-generated electricity under the Government, given the denial from the Minister.