Energy Research for a Better New Zealand

Auckland night panorama. Photo: Stas Kulesh (Flikr) License

Energy is a critical resource.  We need it to house and feed us; keep us warm, cool, safe and well; get us around; and to help us earn a living in the world. 

But the energy sector is facing major changes.  These are being fueled by concerns about the sector's impact on the environment; new technologies that are disrupting how we source and use energy; and by users' responses to all that is going on.

New Zealand is little different from the rest of the world in facing these challenges, but in some important ways the issues we face are unique. We will need local energy research to give us the information and technologies to address these.

The National Energy Research Institute’s (NERI) members are leading this research effort.  In so doing they are helping to make sure New Zealanders can continue to enjoy affordable and reliable energy, along with all that this provides.

In 2017 we developed an energy research strategy for New Zealand, and within that we identify the key issues New Zealand faces that will require local R&D.   One of these was the impact of the need to cut energy sector GHGs and in 2023 we published FROM FOSSIL FUELS TO LOCAL RENEWABLES A research framework to address Aotearoa New Zealand’s energy GHGs