Sam Judd: Coal crisis? Good riddance

Opinion

As the woes of Solid Energy - which has gone into voluntary administration - combine with an announcement that our coal-fired electricity generation facilities are being mothballed, I say good riddance to this filthy and dangerous industry.

Although I do feel for the workers who will lose out on this situation, I think that the market has provided a timely kick-in-the-bum, that I hope will shift our priorities towards more sustainable industry.

The West Coast of the South Island for example, is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Perhaps we could invest in improving infrastructure for tourism opportunities down there rather than cutting large swathes of land up to reap coal, then pouring the contaminated tailings into the waterways.

I have always despised the view driving through Huntly, of the concrete edifice that seems to be of a draconian era, spewing forth secretions of air pollution right next to a very dirty lower-Waikato river.

Right next to State Highway One, this facility is hardly a tourist mecca. At its peak, the units that are being decommissioned constituted around five per cent of New Zealand's total greenhouse gas emissions.

These changes have occurred, once again, because of technology.

Advances in geothermal and wind generation have allowed us to continue on the journey towards the goal of being 90 per cent renewable by 2025.

But what would it take to get to 100 per cent renewable?

The low hanging fruit here is for us to become more energy efficient and actually use less energy rather than changing methods of generation.

More efficient buildings are a great start, but for those of us who are not about to enter the housing market, what about all those devices that we use to read the Herald Online or the appliances we use to make life easier?

The other day I heard about some home-grown Kiwi technology that will reduce electricity consumption in homes and improve convenience - a rare combination. JUCEBOX is a system that promises to enable homeowners to manipulate all their devices to mange power and resources within the home for optimal efficiency. They are currently currently raising funds on Kickstarter - so head over to check it out here and show them your support.

It is exactly these kind of entrepreneurial ideas that we need to get to the holy grail of a 100 per cent renewable nation. Just imagine how good that would be for creating jobs through increasing eco-tourism?

I truly believe that technology will be what gets us there. Just seeing how far we have come recently gives me hope that we will pull it off.

Do you have any examples of how technology helps the environment? If so, please send me an email or leave a comment below.