Research and reports

The report examines the potential for small scale generation and energy management in five remote sites in South Canterbury. Technical information and economic costs and benefits for a variety of options in each location are presented.
The report illustrates that - with the right set of conditions - small scale generation can be a viable alternative option for lines companies in the following applications:
• It can replace an existing remote lines supply, particularly where:
o The line length is relatively long and dedicated to only one or two consumers;

Ethanol has many favourable attributes when considering it for use in general everyday motoring as well as high performance race applications. Its status as a sustainable fuel when sourced from waste or by-product biomass, combined with good combustion, thermal and anti-knock properties, along with a tendency to reduce CO2 emissions, has prompted this investigation into the advantages of petrol-ethanol blends compared to conventional motorsport fuels for use in race vehicles..

Fundamentally biofuels must deliver significant greenhouse gas reductions compared to the fossil based fuels that they are being substituted for, as it is on this belief that consumer demand for biofuels is soaring worldwide. Sugarcane based bioethanol remains one of the best performing commercially available biofuels. Even with transport of bioethanol from Brazil to New Zealand taken into consideration, the energy output of Brazilian ethanol is still better than fossil based petrol.

This study, commissioned by EECA, provides a life cycle assessment of one of the
more attractive biofuel options for New Zealand, namely biodiesel derived from domestically
produced tallow.
This life cycle assessment involved a primary energy and greenhouse gas emissions inventory
of the production of tallow-derived biodiesel in New Zealand, from the farmer's paddock to the
exit gate of the biodiesel plant. The results of this analysis found tallow-derived biodiesel to