New Zealand is set to stop using coal as one of their main energy sources by the year 2018.
This movement comes after a statement by the country’s Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges:
“Historically coal has played an important role in ensuring the security of New Zealand’s electricity supply, particularly in dry years where our hydro-lake levels are low. But significant market investment in other forms of renewable energy in recent years, particularly in geothermal, means that a coal backstop is becoming less of a requirement”
This statement came after Genesis Energy, the country’s largest gas and energy retailer, announced it would close its final two coal-fired boilers at their Huntly Power Station by 2018.
This announcement is good for New Zealand, as energy accounts for 39 percent of their emissions, which is second behind agriculture. Originally, coal became the country’s most accessible energy resource as the country has 15 billion tons of it and more than half of it is said to be recoverable. Nearly two thirds of its coal comesfrom the Rotowaro mine and Stockton mine.
But the decline of coal has been a long time coming for New Zealand as it’s consumer demand has dwindled due to the emergence of geothermal energy. In fact, coal only accounted for 5 percent of consumer energy demand in 2013 and the production of it took a sharp 6 percent drop. Oil was still the country’s most sought after resource accounting for 46 percent of the demand.
The decline of coal has led to a spike in renewable energy for New Zealand. Nearly 79.9 percent of the energy used in New Zealand is created from renewable sources. To put that in perspective, we can look at the United States who lags behind at a mere 12.87 percent.
New Zealand’s decision to seek out new, clean energy and stop using coal will lead to more opportunity for the country to become a leader in renewable energy, along with new jobs. There is very little bad that will come from the world’s fourth largest user of renewable energy as they jump off the coal mine train.
Featured image via WikiMedia
