Posts by insider outsider
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Andrew is pretty much right. Jim Watson from Genesis Bio has been banging on about this kind of thing with willows – it only needs a bit more money he keeps saying and we could be 100% self sufficient. There are still major hurdles.
They are usually a bit quieter when it comes to fuel costs. MED has an NZIER study on their site and EECA has others. The consensus is that ethanol in any form is not competitive as yet.
Only the Minister of energy thinks there is a potential New Zealand supply on the horizon, that’s apparently why he mandated it without consulting anyone. The Stephen Tindall part owned Lanzatech think they can grow corn in the Waikato to make it – making a nonsense of Parker’s claim that local biofuels wouldn’t compete with food production. Even then it is only economic with a 50 cent/litre tax break and a guaranteed market. Tindall got a big shiny medal in the recent QB honours interestingly enough.
One pollution problem is VOCs, which can lead to haze issues due to photochemical processes, particularly in summer. That can also mean your engine could run rough in hot weather.
Of course they don’t mention the 30% lower fuel economy of ethanol (funny that) and that you shouldn’t use it in boats or aero fuel.
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It is so frustrating when you see dodgy statistics coming out of Govt particularly reported with breathless credulity by the media. Often these stats are used to support marginal policies that are going to cost you and me big dollars. The recent house insulation rules are one example. Completely bogus numbers but the policy is 'bold' - your bold is my 'overly expensive'
it usually only takes 10-15 minutes with Google to seriously undermine their credibility, but it seems much easier to cut and paste the media release. What are our news editors doing? Not enough are saying "this is rubbish, go ask a few hard questions". What's the point in having a round if you don't learn enough to ask those hard questions.