New Zealand’s government said Tuesday it will partner with U.S. investment giant BlackRock in its aim to become one of the first nations in the world to have its electricity grid run entirely from renewable energy.

The government said it was helping BlackRock launch a $1.2 billion fund to ramp up investments in wind and solar generation, as well as battery storage and green hydrogen.

New Zealand’s electricity grid already runs off about 82% renewable energy after it damned rivers decades ago to produce hydroelectric power. The government said it aims to reach 100% renewable generation by the end of this decade.

The announcement comes two months out from an election, with the government hoping to burnish its green credentials. Critics point out the nation’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have barely budged since the government symbolically declared a climate emergency in 2020.

 

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Virtue signalling in a desperate attempt to hold onto power in the coming election, where it faces a humiliating defeat.

 

 

Given the large contribution of New Zealand's massive dairy industry to greenhouse gas emissions, it will require slashing it's emissions to make a significant difference.

 

Agriculture contributes 50 per cent of our emissions
The agriculture sector contributes 50 per cent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s gross emissions. Approximately 94 per cent of our nitrous oxide emissions and around 91 per cent of our biogenic methane emissions are from agriculture.

About three-quarters of agricultural emissions are biogenic methane emitted from livestock, followed by nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide emissions from nitrogen fertiliser use make up about 3.9 per cent of agricultural emissions.

https://environment.govt.nz/publications/aotearoa-new-zealands-first-emissions-reduction-plan/agriculture/?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template#:~:text=The agriculture sector contributes 50,methane emissions are from agriculture.

 

Apparently, they are working on that problem:

https://archive.ph/Fq2L8

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2023/new-zealand-cows-burps-methane-tax/