Australian Renewable Gas Tour

Southern Meats Abattoir in Goulburn, NSW

More than 65% of new homes and renovations are choosing gas hot water systems. Combined with LPG customers, more than 1 million New Zealanders are living in homes or running businesses that are cooking or heating with gas every day.

Back from an Australian Renewable Gas Tour hosted by Bioenergy Australia and GasNZ, journalist Tom Pullar-Strecker says there may be room for debate whether an individual gas user would be helping the climate by switching appliances to electricity today, given the implications for peak power generation. But by 2050, it would be difficult to justify burning gas to run a bath or do the dishes. Unless it’s renewable!

The gas industry in New Zealand is pursuing a transition to renewable energy sources, which involves repurposing the existing gas infrastructure to transport and store hydrogen and biogas produced from renewable sources.

This proposal was discussed during the Australian Renewable Gas Tour, which aimed to showcase the potential of renewable gas in New Zealand by understanding what’s happening now in key projects in Australia.

In his recent Sunday Star Times feature, Tom Pullar-Strecker suggests a way forward that would ensure any demand from new household gas connections was met from renewable sources.  Click to read the full article.