In the House on Thursday I questioned Gerry Brownlee on his disastrous Biodiesel Grants Scheme. Only about $230,000 of the $36 million set aside for the scheme has been taken up. Five companies have signed up, but no new companies have joined since July last year. It’s a long way short of Brownlee’s promise to create 240 new jobs and ensure that biofuels play a big part in our ‘energy mix’ of the future.
Brownlee chose to blame the industry for the scheme’s lack of success, despite the fact that he was warned from the very beginning it wouldn’t work. One of his first actions as Minister was to remove the biofuel sales obligation that was put in place by the previous Labour government. That would have generated sufficient demand for the biofuels industry to develop sustainably without the need for government subsidies.
Brownlee’s approach as Minister appears to be to ignore all the evidence about what actually works, only listen to the advice of those he agrees with, and then find someone else to blame when things go wrong. But I guess that’s what we should expect from the guy who thinks New Zealand’s future prosperity depends on digging up our National Parks and exporting them.
There would have been if Labour had’ve got in and used that beef tallow!
Fundamentally, the current lot in power seem to think that crude oil grows on trees.
NZ should stop digging and start growing fuel. Yes, grow fuel. Biofuel from vertically grown algae and other renewable sources such as twitch willow is the most overlooked answer to the worlds energy problems. Why I dont know. Google Glen Kurtz and algae to be informed. The number of agricultural grads last year was under 100, Liberal Arts degrees in the thousands. NZ could be growing our way to prosperity but nobody seems to be looking in the right direction. Read “Future Food Farming, NZ Inc. meeting tomorrow’s markets” by Alan Emerson and Jacqeline Rowarth. Forget the old ideas, we need new ideas.
Why do we have such a focus on namby pamby art displays around the place funded by the taxpayer, and all the other useless qualifications and activities? (take a look at the Marsden fund if you want to see some pontless research). For example, one I saw a few years ago was to fund a professor mentor and an undergrad student for two years to “investigate the languages of South Auckland” Jeezzus, talk about Nero fiddling…..
Where is all the funding and policy to support all the scientists, engineers, technologists, tradespersons, and labour required to put a sustainable liquid fuel and distributed energy system in place, as well as a turn over of vehicles and plant, to reduce, then replace dependency on imported fossil fuels? In a relatively short time frame… even a longer time frame, if you want to take a favourable scenario, and be of the belief concern is mis-directed at this stage.
Why are we still selling gas guzzling SUV’s etc in this country to brain-dead nincompoops who don’t give a toot now that fossil fuel is on the way out (but sure as hell will care when they can’t get to work, or wherever)
For anyone who thinks we don’t need biofuels, think about our existing demand for personal transport and goods distribution. Think about the infrastructure that is already in place to support this. What are the best ways to make use of this? Ask yourself whether you think electric cars and all types of electric vehicles, a smart grid, plenty of electrical energy and distribution, can all be put into place in the next 10-20 years (starting now) to replace this, at a price everyone can can afford, right down to those on the lowest income.
How many technicians and engineers do you think we need to put this all in place? What careers and skills do you think are going to be in most demand and dire need if all this is left to the penultimate moment, let alone if we act now?
Do you want to be part of the solution, or just one of the thousands of I don’t care, its’ someone elses problem, they’ll fix, I’ll grab it now parasites that are sucking the life-juice out of our future prospects, our future legacy to leave a renewable sustainable society in place for our children, and their childrens’ children?
Can I be more blunt?