Fossil FUels are a Finite Resource

Many nations count on coal, oil and natural gas to supply most of their energy needs. Fossil fuels are a finite resource. Fossil fuels also causes air, water and soil pollution and produce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Renewable energy from sources that are replenished as fast as they are used. Examples include energy from the sun, wind, moving water and plants. Wind and solar energy are clean sources of energy that have the potential to make a significant contribution to New Zealand economy. New Zealand is rich in renewable energy resources more than developed countries and much of its energy meets by harnessing the power stored in rivers, lakes and geothermal fields. Nearly a third of the total energy is consumed including electricity, heat and transport fuels comes from renewable sources. (http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/wind-and-solar-power/page-1). The 70% share of renewable energy sources make New Zealand one of the lowest carbon dioxide emitting countries in relation to electricity generation. Electricity demand has grown by an average of 2.1% per year since 1974 and 0.6% from 2005-2011. Despite being slightly above the global range New Zealand has called one of the least energy efficient countries when comparing economic output against electricity consumption. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_New_Zealand).

The New Zealand economy relies on a range of energy types from a variety of imported sources. While the transport section is heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels the electricity sector in particular is heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels, the electricity sector derives its primary energy sources from indigenous sources such as hydro and gas. (http://www.iscr.org.nz/f310, 14...

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...th the regions. Accordingly, we can plan for future capacity on the backbone grid with much greater certainty identifying this now gives us the opportunity to determine strategies which will reduce the cost and footprint of providing this additional capacity and allows us to consider a wide range of technology options for providing this well ahead of critical need dates. The location of generation and steps changes in regional demands may require significant additions to regional connections from the grid backbone. But in these cases the requirement is less certain. Grid capacity expansions at the regional connections are not required in every scenario. Newer technologies for better utilizing the grid such as extracting more capacity from the existing lines or enhancing system performance with the use of demand side management are likely to have added value here.