New Zealand to be coal-free by 2018, 90% renewable by 2025

[ScienceRocks]

New Zealand to be coal-free by 2018, 90% renewable by 2025

It appears that New Zealand is finally ready to throw their domestic coal habit into Mount Doom — by 2018, the country will cease to use coal as a source of domestic energy production.

“Historically coal has played an important role in ensuring the security of New Zealand’s electricity supply, particularly in dry years where our hydro-lake levels are low,” Simon Bridges, New Zealand’s Energy and Resources Minister, said in a statement. “But significant market investment in other forms of renewable energy in recent years, particularly in geothermal, means that a coal backstop is becoming less of a requirement.”

Bridges’ statement comes on the heels of the country’s largest electricity and gas retailer, Genesis Energy, announcing its intentions to shut down the last of their two coal-fired boilers at the Huntly Power Station, located south of Auckland, by December of 2018.

Well, we will see how this works out!

 

[Derideo_Te]

Good for them proving that it can be done.

 

[GHook93]

New Zealand to be coal-free by 2018, 90% renewable by 2025

It appears that New Zealand is finally ready to throw their domestic coal habit into Mount Doom — by 2018, the country will cease to use coal as a source of domestic energy production.

“Historically coal has played an important role in ensuring the security of New Zealand’s electricity supply, particularly in dry years where our hydro-lake levels are low,” Simon Bridges, New Zealand’s Energy and Resources Minister, said in a statement. “But significant market investment in other forms of renewable energy in recent years, particularly in geothermal, means that a coal backstop is becoming less of a requirement.”

Bridges’ statement comes on the heels of the country’s largest electricity and gas retailer, Genesis Energy, announcing its intentions to shut down the last of their two coal-fired boilers at the Huntly Power Station, located south of Auckland, by December of 2018.

Well, we will see how this works out!

I am all for renewable energy and this is welcome news, but we have heard this before and it didn't work. Hopefully they get it right.


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[Political Junky]

Thank God, New Zealand is making progress.
The Right in the US worships the polluting coal industry just as they believed the tobacco executives who lied to Congress about the safety of smoking.

 

[GHook93]

Thank God, New Zealand is making progress.
The Right in the US worships the polluting coal industry just as they believed the tobacco executives who lied to Congress about the safety of smoking.

Um the right likes the cleaner natural gas industry. You know the one the left is starting a war against, despite the U.S. Be the Saudi Arabia of natural gas


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[flacaltenn]

Good for them proving that it can be done.

Yeah -- TWO -- coal fired boilers.. If they got the geothermal resources to do that --- It's a done deal..
But let's hope they are not doing the geothermal fracking in a sensitive rain forest eh???


And WHY is this linked to an account required Google BLOGGER account??
Isn't there any REAL COVERAGE of this???

 

[Derideo_Te]

Good for them proving that it can be done.

Yeah -- TWO -- coal fired boilers.. If they got the geothermal resources to do that --- It's a done deal..
But let's hope they are not doing the geothermal fracking in a sensitive rain forest eh???


And WHY is this linked to an account required Google BLOGGER account??
Isn't there any REAL COVERAGE of this???

It was readable when the thread was first opened.

 

[Stephanie]

well goodie for them. by the way how big is their country? good grief, these people pushing this "green energy" don't care if you have a cheap power/energy to run your lives. all they care about is Mother earth, which includes taking more of YOUR MONEY, Even though it has survived millions of years without them or these politicians demanding you do as they SAY and NOT what they do. this would be funny if it wasn't to HURT us, our lives and our livelihoods.

 

[flacaltenn]

Before you go off celebrating this remarkable and historic moment... Please remember.. Geothermal mining is:

Not Clean or Green
Not Renewable
Not sturdy in terms of high maintenance..
Not neccessarily a CO2 free source of energy

Below is from New Zealand (.gov). They are not as pie-eyed about this choice as some of our alternative pom-pom squad here.. 5. – Geothermal energy – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Depletion of resources
The process of extracting geothermal fluids (which include gases, steam and water) for power generation typically removes heat from natural reservoirs at over 10 times their rate of replenishment. This imbalance may be partially improved by injecting waste fluids back into the geothermal system.

Damage to natural geothermal features
Natural features such as hot springs, mud pools, sinter terraces, geysers, fumaroles (steam vents) and steaming ground can be easily, and irreparably, damaged by geothermal development. When the Wairākei geothermal field was tapped for power generation in 1958, the withdrawal of hot fluids from the underground reservoir began to cause long-term changes to the famous Geyser Valley, the nearby Waiora Valley, and the mighty Karapiti blowhole. The ground sagged 3 metres in some places, and hot springs and geysers began to decline and die as the supply of steaming water from below was depleted.

In Geyser Valley, one of the first features to vanish was the great Wairākei geyser, which used to play to a height of 42 metres. Subsequently, the famous Champagne Pool, a blue-tinted boiling spring, dwindled away to a faint wisp of steam. In 1965 the Tourist Hotel Corporation tried to restore it by pumping in some three million litres of water, but to no avail. Geyser Valley continued to deteriorate, and in 1973 it was shut down as a tourist spectacle. This story has been repeated many times where there has been geothermal development.

Subsidence
Extracting geothermal fluids can reduce the pressure in underground reservoirs and cause the land to sink. The largest subsidence on record is at Wairākei, where the centre of the subsidence bowl is sinking at a rate of almost half a metre every year. In 2005 the ground was 14 metres lower than it was before the power station was built. As the ground sinks it also moves sideways and tilts towards the centre. This puts a strain on bores and pipelines, may damage buildings and roads, and can alter surface drainage patterns.

Polluting waterways
Geothermal fluids contain elevated levels of arsenic, mercury, lithium and boron because of the underground contact between hot fluids and rocks. If waste is released into rivers or lakes instead of being injected into the geothermal field, these pollutants can damage aquatic life and make the water unsafe for drinking or irrigation.

A serious environmental effect of the geothermal industry is arsenic pollution. Levels of arsenic in the Waikato River almost always exceed the World Health Organisation standard for drinking water of 0.01 parts per million. Most of the arsenic comes from geothermal waste water discharged from the Wairākei power station. Natural features such as hot springs are also a source of arsenic, but it tends to be removed from the water as colourful mineral precipitates like bright red realgar and yellowy green orpiment.

Air emissions
Geothermal fluids contain dissolved gases which are released into the atmosphere. The main toxic gases are carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Both are denser than air and can collect in pits, depressions or confined spaces. These gases are a recognised hazard for people working at geothermal stations or bore fields, and can also be a problem in urban areas. In Rotorua a number of deaths have been attributed to hydrogen sulfide poisoning, often in motel rooms or hot-pool enclosures. Carbon dioxide is also a greenhouse gas, contributing to potential climate change. However, geothermal extraction releases far fewer greenhouse gases per unit of electricity generated than burning fossil fuels such as coal or gas to produce electricity.

 

[flacaltenn]

So --- Ready to drain Ole Faithful?? Because that's what they did "by IGNORANCE" in New Zealand..

It is NOT without SERIOUS enviro consequences... So apparently -- you might have decide between preserving that geyser and hot springs for your grandkids and charging your IPhone...

 

[Old Rocks]

There are many areas that have excellent geothermal potential without bothering Yellowstone. Like Eastern Oregon and Nevada. Given how mountainous New Zealand is, I imagine they have buku wind potential, the same for solar potential. I think the project is doable.

 

[flacaltenn]

The dependence of the plan on Geothermal makes the Headline of this OP a lie.. That's the point.. They NEED that geothermal backbone to even toy with wind and solar. And New Zealand in particular has an absolute abysmal record of fooling themselves into dangerous and risky geothermal projects in the past.

We can hope they learned to treat this mining operation as any other mining operation and fully vet it before the pesky know-nothing eco-nauts start thinking it's green or clean or renewable or can be located on top of an irreplaceable natural treasure... ..