NERI News

Signs of Change National Conference: 15-16 November 2010 concurrently in Christchurch, Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Dunedin

2010-08-27T03:49:20Z

The Signs of Change Conference is your opportunity to find out about and celebrate the fundamental changes towards sustainability happening across our nation. There will be keynote presentations envisioning sustainability in major sectors of New Zealand society, and other presentations on specific ‘signs of change’. The conference will showcase low-carbon conferencing by using high definition video links between 6 main centres. It will be an opportunity for people to meet with like-minded others locally, and connect nationally for discussion and debate. For more information go to www.signsofchange.org.nz or email signsofchangeconf@gmail.com.

Scion Science Symposium: Next Generation Liquid Biofuels and Co-Products: 13 & 14 December 2010, Rotorua

2010-08-19T21:23:56Z

We are pleased to announce that in December, Scion will host a forum for the New Zealand biofuels research community aimed at facilitating knowledge sharing and ideas development within this field of growing national importance. The call for papers is now open.

Programme: The symposium will give you an opportunity to:

· Share your science with other researchers

· Connect with other New Zealand research groups

· Learn about international developments

· Engage in scientific debate about important biofuel and co-product issues

· Participate in panel discussions on:

o Identifying key capabilities and opportunities for New Zealand research

o Accelerating biofuels research in New Zealand

o Communicating across the science community and with industry

The programme will be complemented with keynote presentations from international experts. Invited speakers (to be confirmed) include:

Jack Saddler, Professor of Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy, University of British Columbia, Task Leader of IEA Bioenergy Task 39: Commercializing Liquid Biofuels

Jim McMillan, Principal Engineer and Group Manager, Biochemical Process R&D, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado

Claus Felby, Professor in Wood and Biomass Technology, Forest and Landscape, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen

Further programme details will be circulated in due course.

Call for Papers: Abstract submissions are invited for scientific presentations. Please email a 250 word abstract to biofuels.symposium@scionresearch.com by 1 October 2010. Indicate your preference for a poster or an oral presentation and include your contact details. Microsoft Word documents, pdf files, and email text will be accepted. Abstracts will be evaluated by the scientific organising committee comprising:

Shusheng Pang
Director of the Wood Technology Research Centre, University of Canterbury

Rupert Craggs
Aquatic Pollution Solutions, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

Michael Jack
Team Leader – Green Processing, Scion

Registration: Registration will open in September, when a registration form and full programme will be available in the Events Section of the Scion website: www.scionresearch.com.
The registration fee of $180 per full delegate and $90 per student will cover symposium attendance and catering. Prices quoted include GST 15%. <br />For all enquiries, please email:<br />biofuels.symposiumscionresearch.com,
or contact Katharine Challis on 07 343 5648 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 07 343 5648 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

NERI appoints new Chief Executive

2010-08-19T21:12:20Z

The Trustees of NERI are pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Atkins as NERI’s new Chief Executive. Paul has over 30 years experience in international relations, the promotion of science and technology internationally, and the establishment of partnerships across all aspects of the R,S&T sector. He comes to NERI from Izon Science Ltd, a nanotechnology instrumentation company where he was Director of Business Development.

Paul holds an MSc from Reading University in the UK, and is a member of the Institute of Physics (UK), the Royal Society of New Zealand, and the Chartered Institute of Management (UK). He became a science adviser in the British Council in 1987 and has since held a number of senior management roles in the Council internationally, including Director New Zealand from 1999 to 2004. After a brief fixed-term contract in MoRST, Paul joined the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology in 2004, initially as Director of International Investments, and then as Group Manager, International and Communications. He established FRST’s international group and initiatives including joint-funding relationships with Korea and Japan, and collaborations in the USA and Europe.

The Trustees are delighted to welcome Paul to NERI and look forward to working with him.

The Schneider Electric - One Energy Awards now open

2010-06-06T05:09:53Z

The Schneider Electric – One Energy Awards are now open. Info as follows:

The ONE ENERGY Award was established early in 2010 by Schneider Electric (NZ) Ltd (SENZ) and officially announced by the Hon Gerry Brownlee, Minister of Energy and Resources.

The ONE ENERGY Award is administered by SENZ and seeks to provide the energy industry with innovative and creative projects that help our customers and the community make the most of their energy.In this way, a collective approach is adopted to provide the specialization required to provide our industry and New Zealand with the skills to ensure that going green should be more than just a trend.
Objectives:

We want individuals and/or groups to examine their homes, schools, universities, places of work or buildings in their community and take a closer look at how, where and why energy is used today.

We are looking for original material and application of ideas. In particular, the committee will pay close attention to the following areas:

Forecasted Return on Investment
Innovation Size and scope of opportunity vs. Ease of implementation
Entrepreneurial focus on ideas
Quality of the report content
*The energy saving impact

Examine and present solutions to one or more energy waste issues you identify.
This could be an invention or redesign of a simple energy saving device through to large
scale energy control solutions.

Schneider Electric (NZ) Ltd will make available up to a total of 5 awards to the value of $10,000 each for projects undertaken by individuals / groups at tertiary institutions in New Zealand. The proceeds will be split evenly between the institution [50%] and the project team (max 5) or individual [50%].
Closing Dates

Applications must be received by the ONE ENERGY Award Administrator no later than 31st August 2010 for the 2010 awards.
How to apply

Email your application to oneenergy@nz.schneider-electric.com

2010 New Zealand Sustainable Building Conference

2010-03-10T20:17:48Z

Registration is now open for the 2010 New Zealand Sustainable Building Conference, which is to be held at Te Papa from 26-28th May 2010. Beacon and BRANZ are the organisers and major sponsors of this conference, which will showcase a wide range of New Zealand’s current thinking and research on sustainable, innovative and high performance buildings. There are also a number of interesting keynotes who will contribute much to the discussion on ways to progress New Zealand’s building stock – and how that fits within the wider global context. Check out the registration brochure for more info.

Energy scholarship available

2010-02-25T21:30:35Z

Kennedy Trust Scholarship – 2010 – Background Information

The Kennedy Educational Scholarship Trust is seeking applications for the Kennedy Trust
Scholarship. This scholarship is to support a Masters (by thesis) student at one of the
Universities in New Zealand, to undertake research of relevance to the Gas Industry.

The Scholarship honours the outstanding services to the gas industry in New Zealand of the
late Mathew Joseph Kennedy (Senior) and Francis Joseph Kennedy.

It is hoped that this project begins in 2010, but proposals will be considered from
prospective candidates and/or supervisors for projects beginning later than this. The
Scholarship is for a sum of up to $7,000 for one year.

A particular area of relevance to the Gas Industry has been identified as “The Effects of
Supply Chain Dynamics on Consumer Perception of Natural Gas as a Valid Option for
New Zealand”. This may be the thesis title for the Masters, or a similar thesis title would be
considered. Specific topics that may be part of the thesis study are:

Supply chain logistics
The influence of public policy interactions and regulatory process
Climate change issues from a carbon footprint perspective
Technology innovation and commercial arrangements in a competitive market

Potential students may come from various disciplines (not necessarily from engineering) and
there may be different approaches such as measurability, presentation and perceptions.
Guidance and peer review functions through the course of the study are proposed including
six monthly progress reports from the student and supervisor. These will be administered by
CAENZ.

Background reading on issues may be found in:
1 Understanding the Contribution of Direct Use of Gas to New Zealand’s Future Energy
Efficiency Objectives. A report produced for the Gas Association of New Zealand, by the
New Zealand Centre for Advanced Engineering. November 2007 (www.ganz.org.nz/).
2 Recommendation on Direct Use of Gas. The Government Policy Statement on Gas
required the Gas Industry Company Limited to provide advice to the Minister on whether
policies on the direct use of gas might mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and the likely
cost of those policies. In December 2009, the Company provided the Associate Minister
with its recommendation

Enquiries to:
CAENZ, KEST Application Co-ordinator
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140
Phone: +64- 3-364-2478 Fax: +64-3-364-2069
Closing date: 31 March 2010

For an Application Form: go to CAENZ

Demand-Side Energy Research Strategy

2010-02-15T00:40:52Z

Due to increased demand and limits on supply, major changes are required to the way energy is used in New Zealand. As part of navigating this transition in our energy system, NERI was commissioned by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology to put together a Draft Demand-Side Energy Research Strategy for New Zealand. A pdf of this document is now available from here.

Masters and PhD Opportunities

2009-12-14T22:25:08Z

The exciting Energy Cultures project is underway at the University of Otago, and I just received this email from the project coordinator regarding Masters and PhD scholarships. Please contact miranda.mirosa@otago.ac.nz to find out more.

As the Project Co-ordinator for the ‘Energy Cultures’ Research Project, I would like to invite applications for a 3-year PhD scholarship and a 1-year Masters scholarship investigating household energy behaviours at the University of Otago. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to become part of a cross-disciplinary 3-year research project that draws from Consumer Psychology/Marketing (Prof Rob Lawson), Sociology/Human Geography (Dr Janet Stephenson), Economics (Dr Paul Thorsnes), Physics (Prof Gerry Carrington) and Law (Prof Barry Barton).

Many thanks
Kind regards,
Miranda Mirosa

CapMap live

2009-11-23T02:48:12Z

NERI’s Capability Map is now available to the public. If you want information about New Zealand’s energy research capability – energy researchers, their publications, and funded research projects, then this is a great place to start your search. Check it out and please let us know what you think.

NERI is now a Trust

2009-09-09T05:16:54Z

We are pleased to announce that NERI is now a Trust and Gerry Carrington and Janet Stephenson have been appointed as the first trustees.

Formally, the Trust’s purpose is to “enhance New Zealand’s sustainability and to benefit the New Zealand community by stimulating, promoting, co-ordinating and supporting high-quality energy research and education within New Zealand, and to carry out any other purpose or object which relates to energy research and education within New Zealand and is charitable in accordance with the laws of New Zealand.”

In practice, this means the NERI Trust will aim to provide support for the energy research community in New Zealand, by acting collectively in ways that individual member organisations cannot. Steve Batstone, Joe Gamman and Pip Lynch have shown how this can be done and set demanding standards. As a start we will be completing some of the projects started by Steve, Joe and Pip. These include:

1) A Research Capability Map, to provide information about New Zealand’s energy research capability – energy researchers, their publications, and funded research projects. This tool will be available from our website in the near future.
2) A Demand-side Research Strategy to articulate a high-level draft strategy for investment in Demand-side Research.
3) A wiki site for energy information specific to New Zealand.

We are also considering how NERI can support a new Director and will be applying for charitable status. Between 3 and 5 new trustees are to be appointed and many other matters are to be decided. It has been proposed that the inaugural meeting of the NERI members will be in Dunedin on Tuesday 3 November where details of these plans will be discussed. The following day (4 November) is the annual Otago Energy Research Centre’s Research Symposium.

At present, Jonathon Clearwater is the part-time administrator for NERI, so please contact him at admin@neri.org.nz if you have any questions or comments.