Issue 07, 2004

Getting the most out of solar panels

Wind speed on CD

Carbon dioxide levels rising fast in New Zealand too

International collaboration

Hydro and wind powers up

Carbon dioxide levels rising fast in New Zealand too

Carbon dioxide levels rising fast in New Zealand too
Carbon dioxide levels are rising fast here, though not quite as fast as those recently reported for Hawaii.
Reports on CO2 data from Mauna Loa, Hawaii, state that the recent growth rate there is averaging 1.5 parts per million (ppm) per year, but the rate exceeded 2 ppm in both 2002 and 2003.

NIWA scientists have been measuring CO2 concentrations at Baring Head near Wellington since 1973.

International collaboration

International collaboration
Dr Hu Guoquan from the China Meteorological Administration (left) recently spent two months working with Dr Greg Bodeker from NIWA on modelling climate change. They are pictured here inside NIWA’s base at Lauder, Central Otago, which specialises in atmospheric research.

Dr Hu and Dr Bodeker.

Dr Hu and Dr Bodeker were looking at the extent to which different groups of countries have contributed, or will be contributing, to global climate change based on their greenhouse gas emissions.

Hydro and wind powers up

Hydro and wind powers up
Electricity generation by hydro and wind has just set a new record.
According to Statistics New Zealand, hydro and wind generation reached 7663 gigawatt hours in the September 2004 quarter – the highest quarterly volume ever recorded. Thermal generation, by contrast, stood at 3092 gigawatt hours, which is 26% lower than in the September 2003 quarter.
The September quarter figures show electricity generation for hydro and wind was 27.4% higher than in the same period last year.

Getting the most out of solar panels

Getting the most out of solar panels
NIWA has developed a new method for analysing the best position for solar panels at any location in the country.
The placement and tilt of solar panels is crucial to the amount of solar radiation they can capture. Conventional wisdom advises that in this part of the world the panels should face north, and that the tilt should match the latitude of the site.

Wind speed on CD

Wind speed on CD
NIWA has produced a CD with wind speed data for the whole of New Zealand.
The data have a number of applications, including the identification of sites that are suitable for wind power generation. They show wind speed at 10 m above the ground and have been derived from records from over 160 climate stations covering the period 1971 to 2000.

Archived

This page has been marked as archived, and is here for historical reference only.

Information provided may be out of date, and you are advised to check for newer sources in this section.

This content may be removed at a later date.