Issue 18, 2007

Science Centres: Energy

Short & sharp: energy research projects underway

Mapping New Zealand’s Energyscape

Investigating bioenergy options

Charting the path to a hydrogen economy

Investigating bioenergy options Can bioenergy for heat, power, and transport fuel significantly enhance New Zealand’s energy options, assessed in terms of price, security of supply, and environmental outcomes? As we outlined in the previous issue of Climate-Energy Solutions Update, bioenergy is the energy derived from the conversion of plant material to provide heat, power, or liquid fuels.
Charting the path to a hydrogen economy The CRL Energy-led project, Transitioning to a Hydrogen Economy, is part of the search for a long-term solution to New Zealand’s need for both energy security and environmental sustainability. A hydrogen economy offers the prospect of ‘decarbonised’, very low emissions transport, greatly reduced dependence on imported fuels, high process efficiencies, and the development of clean, efficient small-scale distributed energy systems. Mass market hydrogen cars are still some years away, but informed investment decisions need to be made well
Mapping New Zealand’s Energyscape   The New Zealand Energyscape project will produce a series of interlinked maps Here’s the context. New Zealand’s energy demand continues to grow. We are looking, as a nation, for security of supply and reduced exposure to price volatility.
Short & sharp: energy research projects underway We got the go-ahead one week, and started work the next. A partnership of major energy research providers has embarked on one of the widest-ranging energy research endeavours in this country for decades.