Kimberley O'Sullivan: University of Otago Senior Research Fellow on the increase use of coal and gas and the need for additional solar panels

The use of coal and gas to generate energy has increased sharply due to falling hydro lake levels. 

Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment data from April to June shows that coal produced 883 gigawatt hours of electricity.  

That's a more than a 500% increase on the same time last year, and it’s the first time since 2021 that coal produced more electricity than wind.  

Low hydro lake levels mean electricity generated from renewable sources dropped to 81% of total generation, an 8.6% drop compared to same time last year. 

Otago University Senior Research Fellow Kimberley O’Sullivan told Ryan Bridge that while we do have to go somewhere, it’s time to stop looking underground for the solution to our problems. 

She said that we need to get smarter about the things such as housing, and we could solve a lot of problems by increasing insultation and making homes more energy efficient, as well as adding solar panels. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've got some more to add to the country's energy crisis.
New data from MB shows between April and June this year,
extra coal and gas was needed to generate enough power.
Not surprising our suppose given recent coverage, Low hydro late
levels meant that electricity generated from renewable sources drops to
eighty one point three percent of total generation. That's eight

(00:20):
point six percent lower compared to at the same time
last year, and for the first time since June twenty
twenty one, coal generated more electricity than wind. Senior research
fellow at the University of Otago, doctor Kimbery O'Sullivan's with
me this morning. Good morning, Shutda, thanks for being with me.
What's I suppose this is just part of the course,

(00:41):
right when we don't have enough in the lakes, we
have to go somewhere.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
We have to go somewhere. Ryan, You're right, but I
really think that it's time to stop looking underground to
the solution to our problems. It's gotten cheaper and cheaper
for us to put solar on houses, and that's what
we really need to start doing urgently if we want
to solve this problem.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
So every house should have a solar panel.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well, I think we should start with those that can
least afford electricity and help them out, because we know
that when people can't afford in us electricity at home,
they're really doing it tough, and we end up spending
more and more money on treating them in hospital when
they don't need to be there.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
So subsidizing solar panels for lower income households is what
you're saying. It isn't absolutely will we Okay, let's assume
that all of our low income households have a solar
panel on them. We will still have we will still
have parts of the winter where we won't have enough
to cover ourselves. Right, that's the problem.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
We'll still be a bit short. But if we start
doing things like that, as well as continuing to insulate
our home so that we need to use less energy
than what we currently do in order to stay warm
and healthy at home, then that would go a long
way to solving our problem. The other thing about coal
and gas fossil fuel, it's expensive now, but it's expensive

(02:02):
in the future too. It's not a climate safe solution,
and we're seeing more and more extreme weather events from
climate change. That's only going to continue if we keep
burning fossil fuels.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
So you're saying we need to reduce consumption, as in
what freezing you know, sit in the cold.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
No, absolutely not. What we need to do is they're
smarter about that. We can build housing, and we can
spect our houses so that they don't need to use
as much energy to keep us warm at home. At
the moment, what we're seeing when we measure temperatures inside
our homes is that they track really closely to their
abdual tumberatues. So in the winter we really need to

(02:37):
use a lot of energy to keep our houses warmer,
and it doesn't need to be that way. We could
make our houses warmer by increasing the insulation, by retrefiting
insulation on existing homes, by increasing the technology that we
use to make new homes more efficient, and then we
could put solar on top. We could solve a lot
of problems that way.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, however, that all sounds great, but we've had subsidies
to do this before. Not all houses have been done.
I mean, look at this. The government of the state
is the worst actually this in terms of insulating state houses.
But what you're suggesting will take time, will take significant
investment in the meantime, we have to use gas and coal,

(03:17):
don't we, And surely gas is better than coal.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
I think gas is slightly better than coal, but not
a lot. It's also expensive, it also takes time, and
if we're going to keep looking underground for new gas,
that's going to take a really long time. We've got
solutions that are right here. If we ramped up what
we know that we can do now and did a
better job, going harder with the insulation and putting even

(03:41):
more into our home so that we need to use
less energy, then that would go a really long way
to helping to solve this problem. If we put solar on,
then we're going to go even further. And there are
consents already in place for the big gent tailors to
be building so they could get going with the problem
as well and start to make better renewable solutions for us.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
All right, doctor Kimberly O. Saloman, thank you very much
for your time this morning. Senior search fellow at the
Universy of Otago says the prob the solution rather to
our energy wose is to sole a panel on the
roof insulation in the walls. And Bob's your uncle for
more from News Talks, ed B. Listen live on air
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(04:25):
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