Low carbon opportunities beckon

10 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 2, 2021

News Low carbon opportunities beckon

Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz

LEADING environmental science professor Troy Baisden says large international firms setting net zero or negative carbon goals signifies a shift that New Zealand farmers can’t ignore – and could benefit from.

Efforts to reduce nitrate levels may also play well into these opportunities, effectively dealing with two of agriculture’s major issues in a single action.

The University of Waikato professor points to the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, currently at select committee stage. It is the domestic instrument for the Paris Accord’s intention that climate change risk be recognised as a financial risk.

If passed by Parliament it will require about 200 large financial companies, including banks, insurance companies and investment organisations, to start making climate-related disclosures for their financial years, starting next year.

“The rules of this will propagate down to all significant activities in NZ and likely include farming and businesses where there are risks of storms, sea level rises and risks associated with businesses with greenhouse gas emissions,” Baisden said.

NZ is the first country in the world to require climate risk be written into disclosures and international interest in the move is high.

More companies are already rewriting their bottom lines to include zero or negative carbon goals, in some cases to be achieved as early as 2030, while investors also start to exit carbon heavy activities like oil production.

“So, investors are looking for somewhere they can put that money where positive carbon outcomes can be shown, while these firms are also starting to line up suppliers who can meet carbon certification requirements,” he said.

One of the highest profile companies is Microsoft, which relies upon electricity to power cloud servers, and has declared a carbon negative goal will be achieved by 2030.

It is also launching an initiative to use Microsoft tech to help suppliers and customers reduce their carbon footprints, including a US$1 billion innovation fund to develop low carbon tech.

“And we are seeing a lot of drivers for more forests and soil carbon; there is an opportunity for farmers to capture more at the front end of what they are doing,” he said.

Baisden’s views were echoed by high country farmer Geoff Ross of Lake Hawea Station. He told delegates at this year’s red meat conference there are real marketing opportunities in play now for farmers achieving zero or negative carbon status.

He has contracts to supply his station’s certified zero-carbon Merino wool to Icebreaker and Allbirds. Both companies are at or near carbon neutral and are setting the standard for other clothing and footwear makers.

In the meantime, digital company Toha is providing investors with measurable outcomes for activities claiming to deliver positive environmental outcomes, providing feedback to prospective investors to give them confidence to engage with the activities.

Farming is first up for the company, through its “Calm the Farm” service providing intending regenerative farmers with access to advisors and investors. Founders include data analytics expert Professor Shaun Hendy.

Meanwhile, the ability to deal with lower carbon emissions and nitrate levels in waterways could also be addressed, with more attention to livestock’s nitrous oxide emissions.

Eclipsed by more prodigious methane, nitrous oxide’s emissions claim about 10% of NZ’s total emissions, coming largely from livestock.

The difficult to measure gas is emitted as a byproduct of nitrification when stock urinate surplus nitrogen intake out.

“It is a bit of a forgotten gas, but if we are not losing it in the air as nitrous oxide, we are losing it through the water as nitrate,” he said.

OPTIONS: Professor Troy Baisden believes farmers can capture the opportunities zero or negative carbon targets set by companies present.

And we are seeing a lot of drivers for more forests and soil carbon; there is an opportunity for farmers to capture more at the front end of what they are doing.

Professor Troy Baisden University of Waikato

Fonterra’s Stirling plant to go coal-free

Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz

FONTERRA’S South Otago cheese manufacturing plant at Stirling will from next year be coal-free and the co-operative’s first site to be totally powered by renewable thermal energy.

The shift to using wood biomass from August next year will cost $10 million but remove 18,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Fonterra’s lower South Island operations manager Richard Gray says in a statement the investment will also reduce wastewater, noise, solid waste to landfill and air discharge emissions.

It will create 10 extra jobs in the biomass industry.

The wood biomass will be sourced by Pioneer Energy, owned locally by Central Lakes Trust.

Pioneer Energy chief executive Fraser Jonker says his company has a proven record for installing new and the conversion of existing boilers to biomass.

It also operates its own wood fuel division.

Stirling, which exports cheese to more than 10 countries, is Fonterra’s third plant to switch to a new energy source in three years.

The conversion of Fonterra’s Te Awamutu site to wood pellets has resulted in a 10% reduction in the co-op’s coal use and the Brightwater plant at the top of the South Island is co-firing wood biomass.

Fonterra says in a statement that when these sites are combined with other energy efficiency work, the co-op’s emissions will be lowered by 135,000t, the equivalent of taking close to 52,000 cars off the road.

Putting an end to coal at Stirling

Otago’s fantastic little cheese factory exporting 90%

of cheese to customers all over the world. Emission reductions of 18,500

tonnes a year

Our first site powered with 100%

renewable thermal energy

More than $10 Million

back into the local community That’s the equivalent to taking more than 7,000

cars off our roads!

Stirling is the latest project in our work to get out of coal by 2037

Power for your projects, when you need it.

Six-cylinder tractors available from $43/hour+GST* ready to add horse power to your line-up for the upcoming season.

Heath careers initiative review

Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz

THE Ministry of Health (MoH) is reconsidering a decision not to fund a programme promoting health careers in rural schools.

Pilot funding for 10 months was agreed to last September to allow the NZ Rural General Practice Network (NZRGPN) to expand a rural health careers promotion programme in rural schools it already had under way.

But a request by the NZRGPN to MoH earlier this year for three years additional funding, was initially declined, but is being reviewed.

International research shows someone raised in a rural community, who returns there to work in health, is six-times more likely to stay.

Comparable programmes to attract health professionals to rural areas have been run in Canada, United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

The network promotes the interests of all health careers, aware all rural medical practices need professionals.

“This programme is about getting people into the pipeline,” NZRGPN chief executive Grant Davidson said.

A Ministry of Health written response to questions from Farmers Weekly acknowledges the programme just ended, exceeding targets.

It visited 108 schools, exceeding the 90 targeted, and career expos and the programme received positive feedback from most students.

“The contract was for one-off funding and the Ministry is in discussions with the network to understand the change in their circumstances, which has meant they are no longer able to fullyfund this programme themselves and how the programme can be sustainably supported,” the Ministry said.

Davidson says the programme introduced about 10,000 Year 9 and 10 students to potential health careers, but given those students have not left school yet, it is impossible to judge its success.

The network’s rural health careers co-ordinator Esther Maxim says research shows Year 9 and 10 students are the optimum target because they are starting to think about potential careers.

Members of Students of Rural Health Aotearoa participate in some school visits.

“The students are close in age and the school students can see what they have been able to do and that it is an opportunity for them,” Davidson said.

Part of the message for students is that medical schools offer preferential access for rural students, something he says some teachers are unaware of.

His confidence in the programme’s success stems from positive feedback from students and teachers and anecdotal evidence from rural GPs, such as Lance O’Sullivan, that their career choices were inspired by such school visits.

The rural GP workforce is aging and relies on foreign trained doctors.

About 25% of rural GPs are aged over 60 and the average age is 49.

Nearly half of rural GPs were trained overseas and Davidson says while that is not necessarily an issue, ideally the workforce would be more local with an understanding of NZ and rural culture.

The MoH statement says last year it committed to fund all eligible applications for GP training and is working with the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners to increase rural and regional placements for general practice trainees.

“The Ministry is continuing to work with the sector to progress initiatives to strengthen the rural health workforce,” it said.

“This has included actions to expand education and training places in rural locations, support rural health practitioners and extend technology-enabled delivery of training.”

PLANTING SEEDS: NZRGPN chief executive Grant Davidson says the health career school programme they seek funding for is about getting people into the pipeline.

Anzco Foods Canterbury to quit coal

Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz

ANZCO Foods Canterbury is set to remove coal consumption as it fires up the new season with electricity.

During the annual shutdown electric options were reinstated at the Canterbury plant based near Ashburton.

The site’s transition from coal to electricity will bring additional electricity usage of 14GWH and will remove 2800T of coal and 5600MT of carbon a year.

It is the first step in a journey away from fossil fuel-fired boilers at the Ashburton site, a process that has been sped up, thanks to a partnership with Meridian Energy, Anzco Foods general manager operations Darryl Tones says.

Meridian launched a programme to support businesses to reduce their emissions from fossil fuel-fired industrial boilers, the second largest source of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.

“Anzco Foods is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and we are delighted to be working with Meridian in a long-term partnership to help us speed up our decarbonising process,” Tones said.

“Transitioning away from coal to electricity requires significant capital investment, so Meridian’s decarbonisation programme helps make the transition stack up commercially as well as environmentally.”

He says the Ashburton site is the company’s largest processing site with the largest footprint so it is also the site where Anzco can make the biggest impact.

The site had retired electric boilers that were able to be recommissioned resulting in the shift from coal to electricity.

“This reduction in reliance on fossil fuels, together with the long-term Meridian partnership, has meant we can make this move sooner than initially planned,” he said.

Anzco has more initiatives planned on site that will further reduce its carbon footprint.

These are scheduled for next year following further work and investment.

REDUCING EMISSIONS: Anzco Foods’ Canterbury site has significantly reduced its coal use by reinstating electric options.