Data on energy consumption

Primary industries used about 9 per cent of the total energy supplied to final consumers in this country last year, a Statistics New Zealand survey shows.

It found primary industries used 42,288 terajoules (TJ) of energy last year, with the mining industry using 24 per cent of that total. Diesel accounted for half the total of energy used in the primary industries, an estimated 19 per cent of New Zealand's total diesel supply.

A terajoule is roughly equivalent to filling a 40-litre petrol fuel tank 700 times.

The survey results published yesterday came from the first year of the New Zealand Energy Use Survey. It is to be run annually to cover energy use across the entire economy.