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If brains were electricity, DOC wouldn’t have enough to drive an EV around a half metre piece of conservation land. And speaking of electric vehicles, here is the Department of Conservation’s latest brain fart, as reported by Stuff.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) has been charging one of its electric vehicles with power from a diesel generator, undercutting the goal of providing low- or no-emissions power.
[…]It’s located on Stewart Island/[Rakiura], where it has been since October 2020, and is charged with electricity from the Stewart Island Electrical Supply Authority (Siesa), which provides the island’s domestic electric and industrial electricity.
The problem for DOC is that Siesa’s power comes from five diesel generators, meaning the plug-in is effectively getting electricity from a diesel generator. The car also runs on petrol.
Talk about Keystone Cops.
National Party climate change spokesman Stuart Smith discovered the electrical irony in written questions from fellow National MP Chris Bishop to Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan, whose responsibilities in the portfolio currently sit with Acting Conservation Minister Ayesha Verrall.
“It shows that some of these things are more about signalling your virtue than making a difference,” Smith said.
[…]“The reality is a diesel vehicle would have less emissions than charging the electricity from a diesel generator,” Smith said.
With regards to EV’s, the impact to the environment is at the point of manufacture.
DOC’s [Rakiura] Stewart Island operations manager, Ren Leppin, said the operations team was investigating options for solar power for the office and workshop on the island.
Lolz. Good luck with that. And, oh yes, solar is outrageously expensive and let’s not forget the impact on the environment from the manufacture of the batteries.
[…]But Smith wasn’t so sure about this idea, saying he did not think [Rakiura’s] Stewart Island’s climate was amenable to solar infrastructure.
“If there’s solar, for example, then you can guarantee it’s not charging a hell of a lot on quite a few days of the year,” he said.
[…]Transport Minister Michael Wood is set to announce policies this week on further decarbonising the transport sector.
In other words more EVs, higher petrol prices, and forcing, I mean, “encouraging”, people to get out of their cars and into public transport.
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