Fonterra has partnered with US energy storage company, PolyJoule, to trial an industrial-scale organic battery at its Waitoa UHT site in New Zealand.
Made from electrically conductive polymers, the battery is an organic-based compound that acts like a metal. Fonterra describes it as a low-cost, sustainable and long-life battery capable of providing energy security and distributed electricity generation in the country.
The battery was first installed last year on a Fonterra farm at Te Rapa, where it was cycled daily, supporting dairy shed operations for ten months. With the move to the co-op’s Waitoa UHT site, the battery can be hit by power disturbances leading to downtime and waste.
Fonterra COO, Fraser Whineray, said: “As a significant electricity user at about 2.5% of the national grid, a sustainable and secure electricity supply is vital to the co-operative’s local sales and exports”.
He continued: “At Fonterra, we have a strategy to lead in sustainability, and innovation partnerships are a critical ingredient to achieving this. The PolyJoule battery has a remarkable discharge rate, which may ultimately link with ultra-fast charging our fleet, including Milk-E, our electric milk tanker.”
PolyJoule CEO, Eli Paster, commented that he “sees great opportunity for growth in New Zealand both in terms of supporting energy security and job creation in the manufacturing and technology sectors”.
He continued: “We both have sustainability front and centre of our strategy and understand the importance of a reliable, green supply of electricity for quickly chilling the raw milk on farm, processing and distribution…Since PolyJoule batteries do not rely on lithium, nickel or lead, the materials are easier to source, and the batteries are safer and easier to manufacture anywhere in the world, including New Zealand.”
“When you look at where the grid is heading, and the number of batteries needed for the region, building a manufacturing base in New Zealand could create hundreds of new jobs and a new green energy hub.”
The business announced the certification on Wednesday (24 August), confirming that it had passed its B Impact Assessment. The Assessment measures the positive impact an organisation has in five fields, namely environmental impact; interaction with workers; interaction with communities; impact on customers and good governance. Topics relating to both day-to-day operations and long-term plans and business models are taken into account.
edie has reached out to Unilever ANZ to request a copy of its B Impact Assessment. These are required to be made publicly available.
Around 460 businesses in Australia and New Zealand have certified as B Corps. Globally, a further 4,900+ have certified. Most of these are SMEs, as B Lab, the body overseeing B Corp certification, originally targeted its work in this field. It is yet to launch certification for large multinational businesses; this is in the pipeline.
“When businesses of the size and scale of Unilever Australia & New Zealand certify, it shows just how much the idea of business delivering positive impact on people and planet has grown,” said B Lab Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s chief executive Andrew Davies. “Their certification sends a powerful signal that will further advance change in the consumer goods sector, and our broader global economic system.”
Strategic approach
Unilever ANZ stated that the global company’s overarching corporate and sustainability strategy, The Compass, has proved “integral” to the identification and implementation of changes that have improved its B Impact Assessment score to the point of certification.
The Compass was launched in 2020 and is headlined by an overarching vision of becoming “the global leader in sustainable business”, ensuring that all parts of the business are “purpose-led” and “future-fit”.
On the environmental side of things, the Compass is supported Unilever’s Climate Transition Action Plan – its roadmap to reaching net-zero value chains by 2039 that has been backed by more than 99% of its shareholders. It also includes updated ambitions on issues including packaging and waste, gender equality, human rights and social inclusion.
Environmental actions already taken by Unilever ANZ under the compass include procuring 100% renewable electricity in operations; reaching zero-waste-to-landfill status for factories and piloting regenerative agriculture methods.
“We’re thrilled to achieve B Corp Certification, as both a validation of the actions we’ve implemented across Australia & New Zealand, and a motivator to strive even further,” said Unilever ANZ’s chief executive Nicky Sparshott, adding that he and his team are “already planning how we can turbocharge our positive impact”.
Sparshott added that the business will need to work collaboratively with suppliers, staff and communities to maintain its certification and encourage other businesses to follow suit. All B Corps are required to re-certify every three years.
The news will doubtless fuel the debate around which companies should be able to certify as B Corps. When Nespresso certified earlier this year, many SMEs which have been B Corps for years questioned whether a Nestle-owned entity, or a company sourcing coffee from regions facing systemic human rights issues, should be able to certify.
Strawberries available year-round that are fresher, cheaper, and even eco-friendlier – this is the promise of an indoor vertical farm.
Kiwi Arama Kukutai – the chief executive of Plenty – is about to open one of the world’s largest vertical farms. Using LED lights and robots, the US-based facility can grow a fulllettuce in 10 days: “That’s 15 to 20 times faster than the field,” he said.
Plenty farms will supply fresh produce to discount retailer Walmart. Next, Kukutai will take the technology to the US East Coast, and possibly one day, New Zealand and Australia.
Kukutai (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui, Te Aupōuri) challenges anyone who believes traditional farming receives free sunlight and water. Many crops require irrigation, which consumes energy.
Plenty’s farms use just 5% of the water compared to a traditional farm, he estimated. “We’re metering the water onto individual plants, metering the nutrients. We’ve got data at the plant level. We know how plants are performing.”
Sunlight also means exposure to the elements and pests. “It might be a hailstorm that kills all the strawberries. It might be bugs or pests that attack the crop,” Kukutai said.
Plenty’s vertical farms use robots to harvest their crops as well as plant seedlings for the next rotation. PLENTY/SUPPLIED
Plenty’s farms are mostly, but not exclusively, manned by robots. With the plants growing faster under intense UV light, the farm can harvest once a month. “We can change out the entire system to produce different greens on the fly. The retailer gets the products they want, when they want them.”
A 2018 report on vertical farming noted the process was only suitable for some crops – Plenty currently grows leafy greens, and is expanding into tomatoes and strawberries. In addition, the New Zealand-specific report concluded the high costs of establishing indoor systems outweighed the savings. But the climate crisis is now tipping the balance, Kukutai said.
Outdoor crops will increasingly weather droughts, storms, wild winds and flooding. Indoor farms will be better protected from these.
There’s a risk indoor farms could exacerbate our carbon output.
Already, Kiwi greenhouses burn coal and natural gas to keep crops warm in winter.
Kukutai acknowledged that the farm’s LED lights are energy-intensive. If their electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels, vertical farming could increase greenhouse emissions. He hoped to pair Plenty’s new facilities with renewable generation projects. “It’s aligned with our mission… Renewable capacity is a priority.”
One hectare of vertical farming can grow the food of between 200 and 300 hectares of traditional fields, he added. That means produce can be grown near cities, reducing food miles. “When you’re close to the customer, you’re not shipping product left, right and centre.”
Arama Kukutai is the chief executive of Plenty, a vertical farming company based in the United States. KAI SCHWOERER/STUFF
Plenty doesn’t use pesticides or herbicides. Indoor farming also significantly decreases food waste, he said. “As much as one-third of the food produced in the field gets lost.”
Decreased delivery times means produce stays fresher for longer, Kukutai added, with less purchased food ending up rotting and binned.
Due to these efficiencies, Kukutai believes vertical farming should be able to grow produce that’s cheaper than traditional farming systems. That milestone hasn’t been achieved yet, he added. “But that’s the point of investing in technology, to drive down cost.”
Farming up could also allow more land to be used for other purposes such as carbon absorption, the chief executive said. “Land’s a valuable resource. We’ll figure out other ways to utilise it.”
Kiwi business 26 Seasons operates vertical farms in Auckland, Foxton and Wellington, growing microgreens and strawberries.
Asked if Plenty might join them on New Zealand shores, Kukutai couldn’t say anything definitive. But he thought a small farm could be feasible. “I have a small bias, being a Kiwi.”
A new study has put Auckland at the top of the world for the speed at which it’s going green.
The Bionic rankings look at 40 of the world’s most populated cities across the world, scoring them on 13 different metrics, such as pollution levels, electric vehicle uptake, annual plastic waste, renewable energy usage and meat consumption.
Tāmaki Makaurau scored 78.1 out of 100 in the index, ahead of Stockholm and Lyon in second and third place. Copenhagen and Dublin rounded out the top five.
But for a so-called green city, Auckland’s plastic waste was nearly through the roof at 177,314 tonnes per year, especially when compared to the Swedish capital’s waste of just 26,996 tonnes. Out of the top 10 cities, only Cologne and Dublin had more annual plastic waste than Auckland.
The study used data from OurWorldInData to look at the percentage of the cities that were covered in forest, how much that had changed since 1990 and the amount of the world’s mismanaged plastic waste each city is accountable for.
It also looked at job website Indeed, to find out which cities had the most sustainable jobs advertised – according to the study, Auckland had 21 jobs in the sustainability industry per 100 people.
LORNA THORNBER/STUFF
In the rankings, Auckland was revealed as having the lowest air pollution score of all the top 10 cities analysed, with an air quality score of just 9 (0-50 is considered good, 150+ not good), compared to second-placed Stockholm’s whopping 132. Lyon’s air quality level was rated at 43.
The study showed Auckland had lowered its carbon footprint to 5.9 metric tonnes, and had a 6% increase in forest-covered areas in the city since 1990.
Auckland’s average meat consumption was 34,435 tonnes, compared to around 40,000 tonnes for Stockholm and Lyon, but Auckland had higher poultry consumption. Average milk consumption was 226,784 tonnes, compared to Stockholm’s 572,942 tonnes.
The world city with the lowest air pollution was Sydney, with a level of 3, although the city ranked overall at 24, due to its low percentage of renewable energy, land covered by forest, and sustainable jobs advertised.
Of all the capital cities studied, Sao Paulo in Brazil came out top of the world for the highest percentage of renewable energy, with 45% coming from sustainable sources.
The city is still covered by 59% of forest, but due to climate change, that figure has been decreasing rapidly, with 16% of forest lost since 1990.
Auckland’s not the only New Zealand city to be noticed for going green. Lonely Planet named Wellington as one of the top eco-cities in the world in its new Sustainable Travel Handbook.
“With the lowest emissions per capita of any Australasian city, Wellington is at the forefront of the movement. Packed with world-class cultural institutions, eco-conscious cafes (many of which operate ‘mug libraries’), the compact capital is best explored on foot,” the writers said.
Lonely Planet also named Auckland the best city in the world to travel to in 2022, praising the city’s “considerable natural assets” – including its 53 volcanoes, more than 50 islands, three wine regions and numerous beaches – and “blossoming” cultural scene in the months before the Delta outbreak.
Feeding people in need was the main aim of Northland Food Rescue/Whakaora Kai Taitokerau when the organisation was first seeded in Whangārei in 2016.
But the benefits to the environment – by removing methane-producing food from landfills – quickly became obvious, community development worker Carol Peters said.
The organisation now receives food, which would normally go to landfill, from 35 suppliers, including supermarkets, cafes, growers and packhouses across most of Tai Tokerau.
Northland Food Rescue manager Peter Nicholas says Northland Food Rescue/Whakaora Kai Taitokerau is successful because it both feeds the hungry and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by saving food from landfill. DAVID WHITE / STUFF
The food is all weighed, so reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be calculated.
It is then sorted and listed on a secure online “shop” so distributors – including churches, schools and food banks – can select which kai their clients need.
The scale of the operation means in the last year alone it saved 108 tonnes of food from going to waste, creating 305,000 meals and reducing 121 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
Manager Peter Nicholas said 97 per cent of the donated food is perfectly edible, it just can’t be sold because of imperfections or expiry dates.
“It is a fault of our food supply system; it is usually perfectly edible food that can be distributed to people in need.
Northland Food Rescue has an online “shop” so distributors can select their food. David White / STUFF
“When there is food insecurity in this country, it makes no sense to be chucking food out.”
Food not fit for human consumption is fed to pigs or composted.
But most of the time, the food can be used with a bit of know-how, such as using fruit past its best in baking, Nicholas said.
Northland Food Rescue is run by 155 Whare Āwhina Community Houses, and its distributors include the organisation’s food bank and centre for homeless people, Open Arms.
Peter Nicholas says Northland Food Rescue has created 305,000 meals out of donated food in the past year, reducing 121 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. David White / STUFF
Another charity which benefits is Soul Food, which makes hot meals for the homeless and hungry once a week, as well as distributing food parcels.
Co-founder Chris Youens said Northland Food Rescue supplied quite a lot of Soul Food’s needs, especially the fresh produce important for a healthy diet.
“We get all sorts of produce through them which helps us make our meals on Monday nights,” he said.
Northland Food Rescue was about to move to a bigger warehouse in Whangārei and was trying to encourage more suppliers to donate unwanted food, Nicholas said.
“There is a lot more that could be rescued. Even after all these years of operating, it is still just the tip of the iceberg.”
Peters believed more produce could be rescued if people volunteered to help pick food or pick up tree fall.
It would help if New Zealand introduced a law to stop the likes of supermarkets from throwing waste food to landfill, as France did in 2016, she said.
But the organisation was also looking at a sweetener for suppliers: Investigating if carbon credits could be given to suppliers for their reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, Peters said.
Ask someone for a fact about New Zealand and chances are they’ll likely say, “There are more sheep than people.” It’s true, with 30 million sheep to 4.4 million humans, so it is little wonder that wool production is a major source of export revenue, and national pride, for the country. But the industry is in serious decline. Total wool exports fell 30.2 percent to NZ$367 million ($251.3 million USD) in the year to January 2021, and with wool prices so low it can often cost farmers more to shear sheep than they can get for the wool once sold.
We’re not talking about luxury Merino wool here. That ultrafine fiber still commands a high price, but it makes up only 10 percent of New Zealand wool products. Some 80 percent of New Zealand wool is actually strong wool, a coarser natural fiber more typically used for carpets and rugs.
Changing tastes and the popularity of man-made fibers means there’s a surfeit of strong wool in New Zealand—an estimated 1 million tons is stored waiting for the prices to improve—but 26-year-old inventor Logan Williams, and his company Shear Edge, is hoping to make the most of this increasingly ignored material by chopping it up and using it to make boats, knives, fencing, and just about anything that’s currently made using plastic.
Shear Edge’s plastic wool pellets can be used in existing machinery PHOTOGRAPH: SHEAR EDGE
Williams has pioneered a method of adding processed strong wool to polymers, including bio-based PLA (polylactic acid), typically made from corn starch. The result is a material that not only uses less plastic but is lighter and stronger—and, crucially, this wooly plastic can be processed by existing plastic-forming machinery.
“Wool is composed of keratin protein,” explains Williams. “It’s actually one of the strongest natural materials on the planet, so when it gets infused with the polymer it makes it incredibly strong, but also lighter, so the more wool we can put into the polymer the lighter the products will be and less plastic will be needed.”
The pellets, made in Shear Edge’s Hamilton factory, south of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island, can be used as a substitute for plastic manufacturing without having to invest in new machinery. “Our pellets can be universally applied to almost all forms of manufacturing, says Williams. “This includes injection molding, extrusion, rotational molding, and thermoforming. Our customers may only have to slightly change the temperature and torque of their existing machinery, and aside from visible fibers, it looks almost identical to the industry standard.”
Shear Edge’s wool composites have been tested by Scion Research (a New Zealand government-owned company that carries out scientific research for the benefit of the country) to international ISO and ASTM standards, and the results show that wool makes composites lighter and stiffer, with higher impact and tensile strength.
Shear Edge is currently producing 4 tons a day, and Williams hopes that by using strong wool, he can give farmers an income stream for a product that is often considered worthless, especially as they can use parts of the fleece such as bellies, side,s and pieces that would otherwise be thrown away. Currently the company’s formula replaces as much as 35 per cent of the typical base polymer without a reduction in performance. It’s also worth noting that, unlike a material such as glass fiber, it is 100 percent recyclable.
“We’re trying to make pellets that can be ubiquitously added to any factory and lower the barrier of entry. So any customer can take our pellets and make their products,” says Williams.
So far Shear Edge has partnered with a number of companies to showcase its woolly pellets, including making handles for New Zealand-based Victory Knives, hi-tech fencing—for the sheep farming industry, obviously—and both a kayak and catamaran, the latter of which will be thoroughly tested by making the choppy crossing of the Cook Strait, which separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand, in February.
PHOTOGRAPH: MALCOLM MCRAE/SHEAR EDGE
While keen to promote environmentally favorable and biodegradable solutions such as PLA, Shear Edge pellets are versatile enough to be incorporated with most common polymers including PHA, HDPE, LDPE, PP, PET, PA and PVC.
But no matter what base material is used, the pellets will reduce the amount of plastic in circulation. A standard kayak usually weighs 20 kilgrams, but by adding wool it drops to 18 kg, which equates to a saving in the region of around 2,000 plastic bags. Yes, it’s a drop in the proverbial ocean compared to the 9 million tons dumped in the oceans each year, but Williams is hoping that an innovation that benefits supplier, manufacturer, and planet will catch on to the extent that the numbers really do start to make a difference.
Shear Edge isn’t the only company looking to substitute wool for man-made materials. UK-based Solidwool has been producing bespoke furniture and accessories using a mix of Herdwick sheep wool and bio-resin for years, while a 2010 project between Scotland’s Strathclyde University and Spain’s University of Seville experimented with a reinforced eco-friendly brick made using a mix of wool and seaweed.
Shear Edge’s plastic wool utilizes parts of the sheep fleece traditionally considered unusable PHOTOGRAPH: SHEAR EDGE
And back in New Zealand, Woolcool has designs on the 1 million tons of wool in storage for its brilliantly efficient natural alternative to cold shipping made using 100 percent felted sheep’s wool which is washed, scoured, and sealed within a recyclable polyethylene wrap. It’s fully biodegradable, can be added to compost, yet has been proven to keep food chilled for at least 24 hours.
The question is whether Shear Edge’s approach, which costs some 20 percent more than the equivalent polymer, will entice enough manufacturers to make the global impact Williams is hoping for. The company goal is to sell 50,000 tons of material a year and to have about 50 core customers across 25 different industries. “The higher cost is mostly because our philosophy is to deliver a higher wool price to our hard-working farms, while reinforcing environmentally conscious and ethical practices,” Williams says. “But if the stores do run dry, and in the unlikely event that the New Zealand wool industry does collapse, we’ll switch to using recycled wool or find alternatives from other countries.”
Ask someone for a fact about New Zealand and chances are they’ll likely say, “There are more sheep than people.” It’s true, with 30 million sheep to 4.4 million humans, so it is little wonder that wool production is a major source of export revenue, and national pride, for the country. But the industry is in serious decline. Total wool exports fell 30.2 percent to NZ$367 million ($251.3 million USD) in the year to January 2021, and with wool prices so low it can often cost farmers more to shear sheep than they can get for the wool once sold.
We’re not talking about luxury Merino wool here. That ultrafine fiber still commands a high price, but it makes up only 10 percent of New Zealand wool products. Some 80 percent of New Zealand wool is actually strong wool, a coarser natural fiber more typically used for carpets and rugs.
Changing tastes and the popularity of man-made fibers means there’s a surfeit of strong wool in New Zealand—an estimated 1 million tons is stored waiting for the prices to improve—but 26-year-old inventor Logan Williams, and his company Shear Edge, is hoping to make the most of this increasingly ignored material by chopping it up and using it to make boats, knives, fencing, and just about anything that’s currently made using plastic.
Shear Edge’s plastic wool pellets can be used in existing machinery PHOTOGRAPH: SHEAR EDGE
Williams has pioneered a method of adding processed strong wool to polymers, including bio-based PLA (polylactic acid), typically made from corn starch. The result is a material that not only uses less plastic but is lighter and stronger—and, crucially, this wooly plastic can be processed by existing plastic-forming machinery.
“Wool is composed of keratin protein,” explains Williams. “It’s actually one of the strongest natural materials on the planet, so when it gets infused with the polymer it makes it incredibly strong, but also lighter, so the more wool we can put into the polymer the lighter the products will be and less plastic will be needed.”
The pellets, made in Shear Edge’s Hamilton factory, south of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island, can be used as a substitute for plastic manufacturing without having to invest in new machinery. “Our pellets can be universally applied to almost all forms of manufacturing, says Williams. “This includes injection molding, extrusion, rotational molding, and thermoforming. Our customers may only have to slightly change the temperature and torque of their existing machinery, and aside from visible fibers, it looks almost identical to the industry standard.”
Shear Edge’s wool composites have been tested by Scion Research (a New Zealand government-owned company that carries out scientific research for the benefit of the country) to international ISO and ASTM standards, and the results show that wool makes composites lighter and stiffer, with higher impact and tensile strength.
Shear Edge is currently producing 4 tons a day, and Williams hopes that by using strong wool, he can give farmers an income stream for a product that is often considered worthless, especially as they can use parts of the fleece such as bellies, side,s and pieces that would otherwise be thrown away. Currently the company’s formula replaces as much as 35 per cent of the typical base polymer without a reduction in performance. It’s also worth noting that, unlike a material such as glass fiber, it is 100 percent recyclable.
“We’re trying to make pellets that can be ubiquitously added to any factory and lower the barrier of entry. So any customer can take our pellets and make their products,” says Williams.
So far Shear Edge has partnered with a number of companies to showcase its woolly pellets, including making handles for New Zealand-based Victory Knives, hi-tech fencing—for the sheep farming industry, obviously—and both a kayak and catamaran, the latter of which will be thoroughly tested by making the choppy crossing of the Cook Strait, which separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand, in February.
PHOTOGRAPH: MALCOLM MCRAE/SHEAR EDGE
While keen to promote environmentally favorable and biodegradable solutions such as PLA, Shear Edge pellets are versatile enough to be incorporated with most common polymers including PHA, HDPE, LDPE, PP, PET, PA and PVC.
But no matter what base material is used, the pellets will reduce the amount of plastic in circulation. A standard kayak usually weighs 20 kilgrams, but by adding wool it drops to 18 kg, which equates to a saving in the region of around 2,000 plastic bags. Yes, it’s a drop in the proverbial ocean compared to the 9 million tons dumped in the oceans each year, but Williams is hoping that an innovation that benefits supplier, manufacturer, and planet will catch on to the extent that the numbers really do start to make a difference.
Shear Edge isn’t the only company looking to substitute wool for man-made materials. UK-based Solidwool has been producing bespoke furniture and accessories using a mix of Herdwick sheep wool and bio-resin for years, while a 2010 project between Scotland’s Strathclyde University and Spain’s University of Seville experimented with a reinforced eco-friendly brick made using a mix of wool and seaweed.
Shear Edge’s plastic wool utilizes parts of the sheep fleece traditionally considered unusable PHOTOGRAPH: SHEAR EDGE
And back in New Zealand, Woolcool has designs on the 1 million tons of wool in storage for its brilliantly efficient natural alternative to cold shipping made using 100 percent felted sheep’s wool which is washed, scoured, and sealed within a recyclable polyethylene wrap. It’s fully biodegradable, can be added to compost, yet has been proven to keep food chilled for at least 24 hours.
The question is whether Shear Edge’s approach, which costs some 20 percent more than the equivalent polymer, will entice enough manufacturers to make the global impact Williams is hoping for. The company goal is to sell 50,000 tons of material a year and to have about 50 core customers across 25 different industries. “The higher cost is mostly because our philosophy is to deliver a higher wool price to our hard-working farms, while reinforcing environmentally conscious and ethical practices,” Williams says. “But if the stores do run dry, and in the unlikely event that the New Zealand wool industry does collapse, we’ll switch to using recycled wool or find alternatives from other countries.”
Building an apartment block on stilts over a public car park in central Nelson would help provide affordable homes, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help add “buzz” to the city, proponents say.
Unveiling a plan for 56 “eco” apartments above the open-air council car park in Buxton Square, city councillor Matt Lawrey said the model could help more people live in city centres across New Zealand – reducing the number of people having to drive in to work, and helping keeping cities alive.
The four-storey block would have trees and shrubs planted on its balconies and roof, with only timber columns, lifts, stairs, a toilet block and bike storage touching the ground.
Lawrey approached local architectural designer Pierre Hammond and landscape architect Ursula Bowman to create the design, after being “inspired” by urban regeneration developments in Europe.
Nelson City councillor, Matt Lawrey, (centre) architectural designer Pierre Hammond and landscape architect Ursula Bowman in Buxton Square in Nelson, where they propose building eco-apartments above the council-owned car park to help create more affordable homes and a “green corridor” in the city centre.
Hammond said the building’s main structure would be made from locally-grown pine, creating a much smaller carbon footprint than concrete and steel.
The one, two or three bedroom units would be built in a grid, allowing for the units to be made bigger or smaller once the block was constructed, reducing the need to build more homes when demand changed, Hammond said.
“Standardised” materials would be used, making the building more cost-effective and faster to build, with much of it able to be built offsite and craned in, minimising disruption, he said.
Bowman said plantings around the apartment block would soften the existing square, helping establish a “green corridor” through the city, tying in with the aim of the city’s spatial plan to create a pedestrian link across the CBD.
Sustainable features like rain gardens (where water flowed in and was treated there, rather than going straight into drains and the sea) would make the square a pleasant place to be, she said.
Hammond said flood modelling showed the square was at the “high point” of the coastal and riverside city, and not prone to flooding from sea level rise in the next 100 years.
He said 6000 people came into central Nelson to work, but only 50 people lived there.
Lawrey said the city missed the buzz, activity and spend that came with having people living in it all the time.
While it was a challenge to build a unit in town for less than $1 million, costs would drop if developers didn’t have to buy the land but could lease it from council – benefiting prospective buyers and renters, and creating a potential revenue stream for council, he said.
Buxton Square in central Nelson, where it is proposed an apartment block be built over the footprint of the car park. ANDY MACDONALD/STUFF
“If we get more people living in town, then it’s going to be good for businesses, because there will be customers walking around all the time, it’s going to be good for the life of the city, because there will be more happening, and it will be good for the economy.
“Cities are facing a challenge because of the way things are changing with retail, with people working from home. We need to get smarter about how we stimulate our city centres.”
The plan kept the existing car park because people “got concerned about parking” whenever change was proposed in the central city, Lawrey said.
The design allowed for the parking spaces to be changed to retail space if demand for parking fell.
This high-rise apartment building in the Italian city of Milan, named Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest), is planted with around 20,000 trees, shrubs, climbers and perennials, which soak up about 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. BOERI STUDIO
While the apartments were aimed at people wishing to live without a car, a car share service could be included.
New Zealand car share company, Mevo, said projects like this were “more viable than ever”.
Tens of thousands of people in Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton accessed Mevo’s vehicles instead of private vehicles, and the company was looking to expand into regional cities, CEO Erik Zydervelt said.
“We need more projects such as this that are big, bold and sometimes even a little scary if we want our homes in New Zealand cities to be truly world-leading.
Eco-apartments that can be scaled up or down in size are being proposed for Buxton carpark in central Nelson, in what proponents say could be a blue print for inner city living across New Zealand. PIERRE HAMMOND/SUPPLIED
“The best cities in the world work hard to ensure people can live, work and play in their centres. This delivers the best outcomes for their environment, people and economies.”
Lawrey hoped the design would “open people’s minds to what might be possible”.
He, Hammond and Bowman intended to pitch the idea to Nelson City Council in the coming weeks.
Petrol prices racing towards $4 a litre has further enlivened Kiwi interest in new electric cars, but those taking the plunge are much more likely to find themselves on a waiting list than in a vehicle.
That feedback comes from the motor industry, which says the latest influence on pain at the pump, Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, could well inflict more than the punishing oil prices hitting Kiwi motorists’ pockets now.
David Crawford, chief executive of the Motor Industry Association which represents almost all new vehicle distributors, is concerned the invasion has exacerbated supply chain crunches already so disrupted some national distributors have ceased taking forward orders.
David Crawford, chief executive of the Motor Industry Association.
“Fuel prices were going up already, but they have spiked because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.There is no doubt that heightened fuel price has increased the number of enquiries about (these) low emission vehicles. I am receiving that feedback from distributors.”
Whether distributors can meet this demand is far from clear. His feel is that few, if any, are in that position. The war is a blow to an industry already feeling stress from almost all new vehicles being subject to stock issues.
Franchises’ ability to supply new products has been steadily lessening for some time, but potential a new buyer having to wait at least a few months or perhaps more than a year for their vehicle has likely elevated even more now.
“Constraining that (demand) is disruption around availability of vehicles.”
Crawford says Russia and Ukraine manufacture semiconductors, vital to modern cars and already in short supply before Russia kicked off its incursion on February 24. Ukraine is a big supplier of car components, mainly to European makers. Russia supplies rare earth and precious metals.
The semiconductor crisis has already evidenced here with de-contenting of some popular cars. One example is the new petrol Mitsubishi Outlander. It launched late last year with a digital dashboard, but that only featured on the first shipment of 100 cars. It then regressed to an analogue display.
Electrified cars – whether in wholly electric or plug-in and hybrid forms – are especially reliant on semiconductors, Crawford says.
The Mitsubishi Outlander has been a victim of the semiconductor shortage.
“Electric vehicles have a high number of chips. We already had a processing chip shortage in vehicles and this (conflict) has only made it worse.
“Historically every time fuel price increases by more than 50 cents a litre, and stays up, buying patterns change and people look for more fuel efficiency,” he says.
“Fifteen years ago that was smaller cars with smaller engines. These days they are looking at electric vehicles, PHEVs and hybrids.”
Government’s Clean Car rebate that discounted $8625 from the price of a new full electric with a recommended retail under $80,000, and lesser amounts from PHEVs below that ceiling (with hybrids due to benefit from April 1) has already clearly fed electric interest at new car level, but often the point where it far exceeds national allocations. There’s no solution to that.
“Some brands have stopped taking orders for some really popular models because wait lists are nine to 12 months out.
“It’s a common factor for EVs and PHEVs. The challenge is being able to get enough here to satisfy demand. People are going to have to be patient.”
The Clean Car Programme has also driven interest in EVs, PHEVs and hybrids. WAKA KOTAHI
Crawford wouldn’t like to forecast how long this scenario might stretch out.
“The longer that drags out the longer it’ll take to adjust… I’m not prepared to make a prediction about how long that conflict will last. A Westernised Ukraine is clearly untenable to Russia.”
Mark Gilbert, chairman of Drive Electric, a high-profile not-for-profit EV advocacy group, concurs with Crawford’s views.
A former car industry chief executive (he ran BMW New Zealand from 2004 to 2012), Gilbert believes more EVs will be registered here this year than in 2021, in itself a record period, with 13,247 new and ex-overseas’ used registrations, but only because of already cemented forward planning by companies.
“Most car companies would have been planning for more EVs in 2022 than they were in 2021, I feel confident in saying by the end of this year we will see more EVs sold in 2022 than last year.
“In January and February the combined uptake (of EVs) was 2500 vehicles so, if that trend continues, we are conceivably looking at 15,000 for the year.”
Yet the next two to three months “will be very interesting,” he said, adding that with the conflict, the microchip shortage and shipping issues “It’s a bit of a nightmare to forecast.”
Mark Gilbert, chairman of Drive Electric. SUPPLIED/STUFF
With just under 40,000 electric vehicles in circulation overall, the sector is building off a low base, he says.
Crawford has suggested anyone seeking to step out of a vehicle that is becoming too expensive to run might, in some circumstances, simply be better off forgetting about buying into anything new at all.
However, those involved in that trade don’t see ex-Japan used stock being necessarily available in abundance to fulfil that.
David Vinsen, chief executive of the Vehicle Importers Association, the industry body for the used import trade, says as much as his members will likely focus more on sourcing efficient vehicles, this is a finite source.
New Zealand traders are competing with other countries, including Australia, to secure EV stock and, while it sounded facile to say it, “they (the Japanese car market) are not making any more five-year old cars.”
The VIA has just secured victory in its fight to achieve a 25 percent reduction in penalties against used vehicles that introduce when the Clean Car legislation enacts on April 1.
The association had originally expected penalties to be around half of those of new vehicles, acknowledging the shorter time used cars spend on the fleet, but instead the calculator issued by the Ministry of Transport showed they were the same.
Even with that impact halved, the VIA believes Clean Car will, at least for the foreseeable future, lead to increased prices and decreased options for car buyers.
Vinsen, who is on a Government-established low emission vehicle working group, is concerned the formula for Government’s emissions reduction actions still isn’t right.
He says the effect of the Clean Car discount on used import candidate vehicles has been that prices in Japan have climbed. “It has been an immediate wealth transfer from New Zealand to Japan.
“The price of petrol will increase demand for efficient vehicles, including EVs, which is what we have been advocating all along.
“If the Government was serious about driving the demand for fuel efficient vehicles and EVs they would do it through the Emissions Trading Scheme and put a proper carbon tax on petrol, let the user pay and let the demand fall where it should.
“Instead they won’t deal with the substantive issue. The Clean Car Standard and the Clean Car discount are only superficial exercises to make it appear the Government is doing something. What’s going to happen in two, three, five years’ time? They are going to look back and think ‘why on Earth isn’t this working?’
“We are bringing in every EV we can get our hands on and our colleagues in the new industry are doing the same. But there are finite supplies… with the pool of used cars internationally, but particularly in Japan, what is there is there.
“All it’s going to do is put the price of vehicles up.”
Gilbert, meanwhile, wonders how influential China might become.
He points out that Shanghai-based BYD, primarily a producer of budget fully electric models, has just announced intent to start selling in Australia. Even though the distributor also has rights to NZ, it’s not clear when the brand will start up here.
Yet China is a juggernaut, being the world’s top EV market and also the global leader in production.
“You have a lot of brands in China – they seem to be rolling out a new one every week,” says Gilbert.
“Even though not many are building in right-hand drive, if they don’t have the same supply chain issues, there is perhaps an opportunity.”
Regardless of how hard it might be to secure an electric car, those who already own one will be relieved to escape paying so much for petrol.
His own car, a premium sector Audi e-tron SUV, is proving increasingly cost-effective.
“It’s basically costing the equivalent of 30 cents a litre to fill. Putting in fuel that’s costing 10 times that has got to be making people think.”
New Zealand eco-footwear startup Orba says it has created the world’s first biodegradable eco sneakers. The shoes are designed to fully fall apart and decompose at the end of their life, leeching no toxins into the soil. They have been created to address an alarming issue, that of billions of shoes ending up in landfill each year.
Traditionally manufactured shoes contain materials and glues that do not biodegrade. They can take anywhere between 40 to 1,000 years to fully break down, creating toxins and carbon emissions as they do so. Most commercially available footwear contains a high percentage of plastic and synthetics, from soles to uppers.
While Orba claims to be the first truly biodegradable sneaker (and it appears it is the first to be commercially available), Brooklyn-based sneaker company Kengos debuted their beta Lace-Up model back in 2020 and described it as “biodegradable, vegan-friendly and made from 98% plant-based materials”, while Canadian designer Luc Houle launched a Kickstarter for a shoe that is “not only biodegradable, but can grow into an apple tree in its afterlife.”
An exploded Ghost sneaker.
Identifying a need
Orba cites 20 billion as the number of shoes made, each year, that contain synthetic materials that can’t biodegrade. The company claims to take an alternative route, by sourcing materials from nature, which makes them more sustainable and suitable for reclamation by soil.
The ‘Ghost’ sneaker is Orba’s contribution to the circular economy. A tested biodegradable sneaker, it is backed by science and independent audits to negate greenwashing concerns. Although biodegradable, Orba has set itself a target of making its shoes fully compostable in the future. The Ghost line has been available for six months, to date.
“We launched our Orba Ghost just six months ago, so to achieve both national and global recognition like this is incredibly exciting and validates our approach to design and sustainability,” co-founder Gillian Boucher said in a statement.
Composition of change
Orba has broken down its eco sneakers into individual composite parts, to offer full material transparency. The soles, traditionally made from petrochemical-based rubber, are created using natural rubber, rice husk and coconut oil. (Beeswax is included, making the shoes unsuitable for vegan shoppers, but alternatives are available). Uppers use flax canvas, hemp, and nettle, all of which are renewable and regenerative crops that can grow without pesticides. The footbed is a combination of cork, coir, and agave sisal.
Water-based glues are used throughout, though they are not natural or plant-based yet. Orba states this clearly and says it is looking to find a suitable alternative that will last a full life cycle and biodegrade at end of use.
A certified B Corp, Orba claims to have identified the effects of fast and synthetic fashion and sought to provide a solution. Careful to make every part of the supply and manufacturing chain transparent, it offers an alternative to the increasingly unreliable green claims of big brands.
Future goals include the development of 100 percent eco-certified shoes made from 100 percent eco-certified materials and glues. Alongside, it will aim to provide an in-depth analysis of its operational impact, including carbon footprint.
Hanging the greenwashers out to dry
Greenwashing has become a seemingly everyday activity for the fashion industry. Keen to cash in on a shift in consumer trends and motivations, companies are increasingly claiming to align with sustainable materials and practices. In reality, many are simply paying lip service and offering no traceability or proof of their newfound eco-credentials. Numerous steps are being taken to prevent greenwashing from continuing, including class action lawsuits and new legislation.
Changing Markets Foundation recently took repeat offenders to task with a protest at London Fashion Week and a greenwashing expose website lunch. Greenwash.com is styled as a virtual launderette, giving visitors a chance to see which brands and products are falling short of genuine environmental progress.
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