In contrast the electricity industry is putting a foot on the brake against renewables.
Unison as our only line company imposes a solar tax if someone is installing solar electricity.
Our government must be creative and bring the electricity industry either voluntarily or with a new regulation at the negotiation table.
It must increase the currently poor annual 72 Gwh solar electricity production which is less than 0.7 per cent of the total electricity production to at least 5 per cent over the next 10 years.
From the financial point of view many house owners are interested in investing in solar, meaning the financial contribution from the government would be relatively low.
There is another current issue: waste management. We were recently asked through a pamphlet from our council about our opinion on waste minimisation because the volume of waste to landfill increased significantly over the past 10 years.
The pamphlet said that over 60 per cent of the household waste can either be recycled or composted. Again, recycling is not compulsory.
Green waste is not allowed in the council's waste bags, but private contractors, (in Hawke's Bay five or six are competing with council waste collectors) are happy to collect all waste including green waste and dump it on our landfill.
Apart from the increasing open space demand for landfills the emission of methane is a major contributor to climate change.
Less organic waste equals less methane emission and less land requirement for our waste, that's the goal the communities aim for.
Germany established its waste separation programme for households more than two decades ago.
The system of separate collection and treatment of bio-waste and green waste is one of the most advanced in Europe.
The German waste management is providing a substantial annual contribution to meeting climate targets with a reduction in emissions by approximately 56 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents per year compared to 1990 levels.
Two processes are involved: an advanced form of composting and the anaerobe process of fermentation in bio-gas plants.
Bio-gas plants generate electricity and heat. Bio-gas plants don't produce waste, because the processed liquid or solid material will become a nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as fertiliser in the agriculture industry and other areas.
There are several thousand anaerobic plants in Germany, although most are mainly agricultural facilities for fermenting liquid manure and energy crops. Some facilities are also processing collected bio-waste, food scraps and the herbaceous parts of green waste.
In 2014 there were about 7800 bio-gas plants installed in Germany with a capacity of 3.650 MW el.
Here in New Zealand in 2015 about 20 bio-gas plants were operating with a capacity of 46 MW el. mainly converting gas from landfill and sewage plants into electricity which is less than 1 per cent of the national electricity generation.
By 2025 the use of fossil fuels for electricity production should decrease to 10 per cent from currently 20 per cent to reduce our greenhouse emissions.
Another national goal is to minimise the waste volume to landfill to save resources and reduce the land requirement for new landfills.
Bio-gas plants can contribute to both goals. A government programme for bio-gas production could target two areas: 1: Rural communities where effluent and liquid manure could be processed and 2: communities which are willing to prepare a waste separation programme ie. bio waste from households, including food scraps from restaurants, cafes and supermarkets and schools could be collected regularly.
Before enough material would be available to install a bio-gas plant, bio-waste could be composted and sold back into the communities.
To achieve the national electricity goal by 2025, we must start quite soon.
The state of Lower Austria with a population of 1.6 million introduced the separated waste collection several years ago and last year produced 9 per cent of the required electricity by bio-gas.
New Zealand's wind turbines are internationally in the top 10 regarding energy efficiency, but the small number of turbines contribute just 5 per cent of our electricity production.
Countries like Denmark where over 40 per cent of the electricity is produced by wind turbines must go offshore to get good wind conditions, which we have here onshore.
Will Ardern's ban on offshore oil and gas exploration have consequences?
I hope so. First of all within the new government to develop initiatives for more renewables.
Are there consequences for Hawke's Bay? Probably yes, because the petroleum industry will extend its business onshore and Hawke's Bay is one of its targets to drill though our aquifers.
A recent regional council meeting gave the public the first taste of how little the petroleum industry is interested in protecting Hawke's Bay industry and population which is depending on clean water.
Napier and Hastings are in the process of a Reduce, Recover and Recycle more Waste
programme for 2018-2014. The councils may consider including a separate bio-waste collection for first composting and later bio-gas production.
* Walter Breustedt lives in Havelock North and is the director of Eco Management Group Ltd. He worked as independent adviser for the German Government.
