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A policy commitment to a sustainable energy future
including improvements in energy efficiency and
a progressive transition to renewable sources
of energy was outlined in the Government's Energy
Policy Framework of October 2000.
This was followed up in September 2001 by release
of Government's National
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (NEECS)
- Towards a Sustainable Energy Future This
overarching initiative was intended to guide policy
development and had two high-level targets for
2012:
- economy-wide energy efficiency improvement
of at least 20%
- between 25 and 55 PJ of additional consumer
energy from renewable resources.
In February 2002, Government promulgated a Growth
and Innovation Framework (GIF) as an another umbrella
initiative for Government policy development,
with the overarching aim of returning New Zealand's
per capita income to the top half of the OEDC.
In October 2002, Government confirmed a target
of 30 PJ of additional renewable energy by
2012, an increase of 22% over year 2000 renewable
energy use. The target is expected to be achieved
through an expansion of the National Energy Efficiency
and Conservation Strategy's renewable energy programme
and through implementation of the Government's
Climate Change Projects Mechanism.
One of the overarching goals of the Government's
Sustainable Development Programme of Action or
Sustainable Development Initiative (SDI) of January
2003 was to ensure the delivery of energy services
to all classes of consumer in an efficient, fair,
reliable and sustainable manner. In addition to
creating a more energy efficient society, the
programme sought to develop and maximise renewable
energy sources to ensure New Zealand consumers
have a secure supply of electricity.
In 2004 Government released the discussion document
Sustainable
Energy: Creating a Sustainable Energy System for
New Zealand.
In 2005 the Government began a review of the
NEECS with a view to an updated strategy by 2006,
five years after the release of the initial strategy.
A framework for the replacement of the NEECS was
issued on 4 July 2006 for comment (see
external
site). In particular, this calls for a "bolder
and more aggressive" replacement strategy.
The government has continued to develop its energy
sustainability policy through the New Zealand
Energy Strategy (see external
site) and has issued terms of reference on
4 July 2006.
The government has been careful to tie together
the various strands of policy development including
NEECS replacement, New Zealand Energy Strategy,
Climate Change Policy and a Transport Strategy.
Government has undertaken several R&D funding
initiatives, including the NZ Venture and Investment
Fund to invest $100M of public and $200M of private
money in seed, start-up and early-stage investment.
The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology
currently funds geothermal research in Crown Research
Institutes, and while FRST is guided by strategies
such as GIF, individual research programmes may
not achieve the required gains without their integration
into a robust framework.
See Also Other Investment Climate
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