Energy and Resources Minister, Hon Dr Megan Woods, set the scene for renewable gas in her opening speech for GasNZ’s 2022 conference.

The Minister’s speech, presented by video, embraced the theme of the conference ‘Te Ao Hurihuri - the changing world and the future of gas’ and demonstrated the Government’s support for renewable gases and desire to collaborate with the gas industry.

Janet Carson, GasNZ Chief Executive, said it was fantastic to see the Minister leaning into the full breadth of renewable gas options.

“The industry has been eager to hear her views and her comments supporting renewable gas initiatives, and the opportunity to use our existing infrastructure, were well received.”

The Minister spoke about attending the Ecogas Reporoa Biogas facility opening, a project that will convert 75,000 tonnes of organic food waste into biogas.

“This facility demonstrates how we can have ‘win/wins’ for supporting emissions reductions across different sectors of the economy,” she said.

“It also shows other co-benefits through the production of fertilizer for our farmers to supporting carbon dioxide supply for our core horticultural industry.” 

Minister Woods reiterated the Government’s support for hydrogen to decarbonise areas of the economy that may be difficult to electrify such as in steel and urea production. And commented on the potential for hydrogen to become an export commodity for New Zealand, particularly for countries in the Asia Pacific region with limited access to their own renewable energy resources.

The Minister acknowledged the need for collaboration with industry, communities and individuals in developing the National Energy Strategy and Gas Transition Plan as part of achieving the vision of a net zero carbon economy by 2050.