Science Centres: Energy
CRL Energy joins national centre
Wave energy device under development
Towards energy-efficient buildings
Energy Scenarios to 2050
Towards energy-efficient buildings
Climate datasets provide essential information for designing more energy-efficient buildings, making the most of passive solar energy, positioning of photovoltaic panels, and even designing other micro-generation options (such as household-scale wind turbines).
NIWA recently completed a dataset of a 'typical meteorological year' for the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority. These synthetic data are created by constructing a typical January, typical February, and so on, for New Zealand regions.
CRL Energy joins national centre
Dr Rob Whitney, Chief Executive of CRL Energy, is now leading the National Centre for Climate–Energy Solutions
Research already underway includes CRL Energy's work on coal gasification for hydrogen energy systems (pictured here) and NIWA's involvement in the development of a wave energy converter. [Photo: CRLEnergyLtd]
The National Centre for Climate–Energy Solutions is expanding into a joint enterprise between NIWA and CRL Energy.
Dr Rob Whitney, Chief Executive of CRL Energy, is now leading the centre.
Wave energy device under development
NIWA has deployed this wave rider buoy off Hokianga to collect data on a potential location for testing the prototype wave energy device outside the lab.
NIWA is part of a collaborative R&D project which aims to develop, test, and deploy a proof-of-concept wave energy converter in New Zealand by 2008. The other partners are Industrial Research Ltd (IRL) and Power Projects Ltd.
Most wave energy devices developed to date are large and extract only a small proportion of the total energy in each passing wave.
