December 2006
Preface
Energy is at the heart of our daily lives, but we have little or no control over the distant sources of supply. We rely overwhelmingly on the bigger system and those who manage it.
From production and use of energy come many of the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. To reduce these emissions we need to wring more value out of every unit of energy we produce. Climate change will also require us to build more resilient systems.
These concerns, along with the opportunities now arising from new energy technologies, prompted this study. These 'local energy' technologies offer a degree of control never before achieved over how we source and manage our energy. As a British study concluded:
"Making energy generation and management part and parcel of people's homes and schools may hold the key to empowering and engaging energy consumers for the first time."
Our culture of relying on large-unit, supply-side energy solutions is deeply ingrained. But we must collectively accept we are rapidly moving into a very different world with new options, and our ideas of energy security must change.
Executive summary
New Zealand's electricity generating system is under pressure as electricity consumption rises each year. But, in local energy systems, there is an alternative to building more big power plants.
At the core of these systems are technologies that produce electricity or heat on a small scale, close to where it is used. The advantages of local energy systems include:
- using energy sources, particularly renewable sources, that are not suitable for big generating plants
- raising the overall efficiency and resilience of energy systems by spreading generation throughout the network
- improving energy security by making end-users more self-reliant
- promoting competition and innovation by introducing new technologies into the marketplace
- encouraging regional development by creating jobs for designers, manufacturers, and tradespeople
- raising people's awareness of energy use
- improving health and reducing 'fuel poverty' by delivering warmer homes at lower running costs.
There is compelling evidence in favour of government intervention to kick-start local energy systems in New Zealand. The full report (right) contains six recommendations to Government.
The background report by East Harbour Management Services contains a detailed analysis of the country's potential for micro electricity generation technologies.
(See also: Media release, 12 December 2006.)
