Over the last hundred years people in the developed world have become used to a system where electricity flows from centralised power plants, along 
transmission and distribution wires, and into our homes to power our appliances. But new technologies are starting to move in to people’s
Masters student Diana Giraldo Ocampo has recently completed her Masters thesis. Click here to read her fascinating work in developing an energy related Time-Use diary that has been used in the Green Grid research project.
Traditional weekend visits to the local shops are bring increasingly replaced by virtual shopping trips. From clothes to electronics to food, online shopping has revolutionised our shopping practices: it is ‘the new retail reality’.
In 2012, 1.8 million New Zealanders made an online purchase. A study by the New Zealand Retailers Association found that online purchases
Don’t forget to register for the 2015 Otago Energy Research Centre Symposium, scheduled for November 19th at Arana College at the University of Otago. Thank you to all those who have already registered.
“Energy Transitions and Technologies” The 2015 OERC Symposium will bring together academics, industry and community stakeholders undertaking energy-related research and innovation.
Invited Speakers:
Dr Steve Batstone
Sally Blackwell, one of our Energy Cultures PhD student has been involved in developing the newly launched Home Performance Advisor training programme for those working with energy and houses.
The Home Performance Advisor programme provides intensive science-based training to gain a comprehensive understanding of how
The government’s proposal to introduce rental insulation standards is a step in the right direction. If, as predicted, about 180,000 rental dwellings (one third of rentals) will be upgraded to meet the standard over the next 4 years, this represents a greatly increased rate of insulation retrofitting compared with current rates.
Notwithstanding there are quibbles about
I research energy policy stability in New Zealand. I’m nearing the end of my PhD and after being so highly focused on one small area, I wanted to use this blog to instead talk about what I see as the much larger context my research sits in. In this, I don’t think I’m saying anything
After a number of cyclist deaths in New Zealand, cycle advocates and policy makers alike have been pondering issues relating to the penalties imposed on motorists. There have been many press reports lately about stories of cyclist deaths and their bearing on their bereaved families and the subsequent public dismay as to how guilty motorists
We have just published a new project report on a very hot topic at the moment, ‘Electric Vehicle uptake in New Zealand’.
The report is a product of the Green Grid project with overlap with input from the Energy Cultures project.
New Zealand has nearly the highest ownership of cars in the world – around 700 light
Not much. Does it matter? Yes, it does. And what can we do about it?
Vehicle exhaust emissions matter from a human health point of view. Motor vehicles produce fine particulate matter, unburnt hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and other pollutants. The fine particulate matter alone was estimated in 2002 to