Opportunity for city to lead way in clean energy

FRIDAY’S (16.11.18) lead article on the Dunedin City Council’s energy development plans is music to my ears.

The latter stages of my engineering career were based on renewable energy, particularly for small cities. Following a landfill gas project for the DCC, I attended (privately) a weeklong Renewable Energy Conference in Sweden, where renewable energy has been the government focus for decades. They are spectacularly successful — wind power, hydro and biofuels are now about 60% of the country’s energy supply, and they plan to be free of oil, coal and nuclear energy by 2040.

They run bus and taxi fleets, heat their offices and homes, and even run a commuter train from biodigester derived methane. The cities of Vaxjo and Jonkoping are prime examples of these energy programmes in small and mediumsized cities, so Dunedin should take note.

It starts with waste collection — biodegradable (putrescible) waste material is separated at source such as households, restaurants, kitchens and food processors, collected and delivered to a biodigester, which can be factory type, or a specialised landfill. The biogas so generated is the fuel for the many uses listed above.

Why not Dunedin? We could again lead New Zealand, this time in clean energy technology. David Tucker

Mornington