Energy

Energy

It’s going to change the way we live. Hydrogen technologies will have the same sort of impact as the computer and telephone.

Ian Brown, a research scientist at Industrial Research Ltd, on New Zealand’s possible role in hydrogen technology, Interface, issue 6, August 2005

To be able to use a country’s energy resources, first you have to find them. That’s the task New Zealand set for geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829-1884), who was in New Zealand for less than a year but in that time described many features of the country’s geology.

The discovery of gold in the Coromandel in 1852 had kindled a desire to understand New Zealand’s geology, and Hochstetter was asked by the Auckland authorities to examine the coalfield at Drury, south of Auckland.

He traversed the North Island from Kawhia and Raglan on the west coast to the goldfields of the Coromandel and travelled into the heart of the Waikato and around Rotorua. In the South Island, he studied copper prospects and coal deposits.

During his brief time in New Zealand, Hochstetter established a tradition of systematic geological mapping, gave the best description of the Pink and White Terraces before the Tarawera eruption, and established important fossil collections. His name lives on in creatures such as Leiopelma hochstetteri, a frog endemic to New Zealand.

Hochstetter also left behind Julius Haast (1822-1887), who went on to reveal the size of the Grey River coalfields, found the seam of coal near Denniston and also was reported to have found traces of gold in West Coast rivers.

These days, about 70 percent of New Zealand’s primary energy is domestically produced and the remainder comes from imported oil. Coal still provides 12.5 percent of primary energy, while hydropower and other renewables combined account for just over 20 percent. However, as the cost of oil grows, gas supplies dwindle, and concerns over climate change increase, other forms of energy have come under scientific scrutiny.

Fat, the whey ahead?

Because they can be used in existing vehicles, in hybrid vehicles and in fuel cells, biofuels are ‘the perfect bridge to the future’, according to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). Animal fat and whey are two of New Zealand’s biological fuel possibilities. Back in the 1970s, Massey University’s Ralph Sims pioneered the use of tallow – animal fat left over in meat processing – for biodiesel production. Biodiesel from tallow could, it is estimated, substitute about 5 percent of the country’s diesel use. New Zealand has also produced ethanol from the milk byproduct whey. Anchor Ethanol, a subsidiary of dairy giant Fonterra, began production of ethanol from whey in 1980 and is now the largest whey-to-ethanol manufacturer in the world. It is estimated whey could produce 100 million litres of ethanol a year.

Black sand beaches and hydrogen fuel

The wild black sand beaches of the North Island’s west coast may help New Zealand be part of the hydrogen economy. Hydrogen technology conjures images of car engines running on hydrogen fuel cells, but Ian Brown, a research manager at Industrial Research, sees a role for New Zealand in developing new materials for hydrogen storage and new methods for generating high-purity hydrogen. That is where the volcanic ironsands come in. Iron oxides have been considered as a way to extract pure hydrogen from water, but ironsands might be an option. New Zealand, with an infrastructure to extract ironsands, could supply the amounts needed for hydrogen purification.

A wave of energy

It only takes being dumped once in New Zealand’s surf to understand just how much energy our waves can have. How to harness that power – the rugged west and southern coasts of New Zealand have the most potential – is something the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is studying. Just as wind farms have many generators, a ‘wave farm’ of bobbing devices or giant ‘sea snakes’ might one day extract the power of the waves. These are not fanciful ideas as some have reached the testing stage, but wave farms are still energy for the future.

Rural power

Great Barrier Island is New Zealand’s largest community without a connection to the national grid, and is one of several rural communities throughout the country investigating local energy sources. NIWA’s Māori Research Unit Te Kūwaha works with two rural Māori communities, Waipoua in Northland and Waihi near Lake Taupo, in an effort to improve access to power and energy efficiency. After initial assessments of energy needs and available energy sources, both communities were set up with a range of small-scale renewable energy systems, including solar hot water systems, photovoltaic cells, and in the case of Waipoua, which is not connected to the national grid, a mini-hydro system was installed in a tributary of the Waipoua River.

By Kim Griggs

Medals and awards

Ferdinand von Hochstetter: Knighthood from Wutternberg, 1860, hereditary knighthood from Austrian emperor, 1884.

Julius von Haast: FRS 1867, CMG 1883, KCMG 1886, Austrian knighthood

Further reading and websites

Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand von Hochstetter biography – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography website

Johann Franz Julius von Haast biography – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography website

Simon Nathan, Geological exploration -Te Ara–the Encyclopedia of New Zealand website

Brian Easton, Economy - Te Ara–the Encyclopedia of New Zealand website

Rebecca Priestley, ‘Ewe with a vroom’, New Zealand Listener, 2 July 2005

Image courtesy of Murray Smith, NIWA

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