Science Centres: Energy

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. The world also faces the challenge of climate change, caused in large measure by the burning of fossil fuels in electricity generation and transport, prompting calls for greater use of renewable resources and improved energy efficiency.

But there are myriad potential energy pathways, which could interact with each other in complex ways. How to pick a path through the maze?

The NIWA-led project, The New Zealand Energyscape, will develop a framework to evaluate these different energy pathways. The team will incorporate demand modelling, and – on the supply side – take a detailed and realistic look at our climate-driven renewables (wind, hydro, marine, solar, bioenergy) and earth-based resources (geothermal, oil and gas, coal). The related projects on bioenergy and hydrogen will feed into this work. They will use a common framework to evaluate selected options, and assess infrastructure and investment which different options would require.

The NIWA-led project is worth $1.3 million and will be complete by June 2008. It involves all five organisations in the energy research partnership (NIWA, CRL Energy, Scion, GNS Science, Industrial Research Ltd).