Yesterday the government released its National Energy Strategy [PDF]. I harshly criticised the draft version when they were released and leaked for replacing Labour’s goal of shifting us to a sustainable, low-emissions energy-future with a dream of finding oil, and for failing to provide any concrete measures for achieving its goals. The final version is, if anything, worse.
And then there’s the Energy Efficiency and Conservation part of the document. The previous version [PDF] had been weak, and had not listed specific programs to achieve its goals. The new version is even weaker, having replaced almost all numerical (and thus quantifiable and accountable) goals with vague, fuzzy statements. For example the previous version called for 29 PetaJoules of savings in transport energy, and a 4% improvement in vehicle fleet efficiency. The new one simply says that
The efficiency of light vehicles entering the fleet has further improved from 2010 levels.
And its the same all the way through. The previous version called for 21PJ of energy savings and a 14% improvement in industrial and commercial energy intensity; now the government just wants “an improvement”. A 10% reduction in energy use / staff member in the public sector has been similarly reduced to a desire for improvement. Only one numerical goal has been retained, for energy generation from biomass. That goal has been halved.
This isn’t a “strategy”. Instead, its an abdication of responsibility. The lack of targets is a commitment to doing nothing, to business as usual. While that does produce slight improvements in energy efficiency, the government – and New Zealand – should be demanding more.
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