The LandWISE Conference, Getting to Carbon Positive, attracted more than 80 people who heard speakers on a wide range of topics related to ongoing sustainability. Day 2 had a strong focus on electrification options to increase profitability and reduce emissions. New Zealand is reaching a point where solar power is the cheapest energy available – as Mike Casey noted, the cheapest form of energy ever.
Uttam Floray introduced Rewiring Aotearoa and the local chapter, Electrify Hawke’s Bay which are focused on helping promote and activate electrification. Mike Casey described the electrification of his cherry orchard and laid out a huge set of statistics and examples of ways New Zealanders can profitably swap fossil fuel machines for electric ones. Becks Smith now helps farmers work out how solar can add to their businesses having set up a solar system for irrigation pumping in Otago.
Lincoln University has chosen major investments in solar electricity to reduce emissions at the university, and Pieter-Wilem Hendriks is part of a team investigating ways to combine agricultural production with energy generation. At smaller scale, Aaron Duncan explained options for home and SME solar systems, using the Centre for Land and Water system as a case study. Boyd Benton discussed the way Ripple Tech transplants electric motors into fossil vehicles and, in a second talk, introduced micro-hydro as a viable option for sites with streams. Olivia said
“It was fantastic to hear Uttam Singh Floray, Mike Casey, Becks Smith, Pieter Hendriks, Boyd Benton, and Aaron Duncan discussing electrification and reducing emissions. You could sense their genuine passion for the topic, which made their talks even more engaging. I particularly enjoyed Mike Casey’s talk on his electric cherry farm. I found it fascinating that every piece of machinery used on the farm is electric, including the truck that transports the cherries to the packhouse. That means there are no fossil fuel carbon emissions until after the cherries have been transported from the farm.”
Horizons Regional Council Field Session
The field session on Thursday afternoon provided delegates with opportunity to get first-hand experience of some of the techniques and technologies that had been discussed. We thank “A Lighter Touch”, WaterForce, Freenergy, RippleTech, PowerSpout, Vegetables NZ, Autonabit, and Agovor for bringing their wares to demonstrate. Gadgets, machines and systems to excite, save time and money, and enable systemic changes. Olivia said
“I didn’t make it around to all the field event demonstrations, as I was demonstrating the Slakes app and the Nitrachek device. I did manage to see the smart trap, the off-grid hydro pump, the Govor robot, and the Avvy bird scaring robot. They offer so much, and we expect to see a lot more of these technologies in years to come!”
We gratefully acknowledge all our sponsors, presenters, demonstrators, and delegates!
