New Zealand plans cuts to greenhouse gas emissions with new energy strategy

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/11/asia/AS-GEN-New-Zealand-Energy.php

New Zealand plans cuts to greenhouse gas emissions with new energy strategy

The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand wants to halve its transport greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and generate 90 percent of the nation's electricity supply from non-carbon renewable resources by 2025, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Thursday.

Releasing the national "Energy Strategy to 2050," Clark said New Zealand "is uniquely positioned to achieve greater sustainability in the energy sector ... a huge strategic advantage to us."

Transport emissions will be cut by using biofuels, buying more diesel and hybrid vehicles and being one of the first nations to widely use electric-powered vehicles, the strategy said.

The move to low-carbon fuels means that by 2020 some 25 percent of liquid fuels used in transport will be derived from renewable sources, rising to 85 percent by 2050.

...

Already 65 percent of the nation's electricity is generated from renewable resources, mainly hydroelectric plants, and he said there should be no need to build more fossil fuel generation for at least a decade.

...