Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:608;Page:5473] 
12.  
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy 
: What was the basis for his statement in the House on 29 April in relation to solar water heating that “when one starts to do the arithmetic one finds they are not hugely useful”? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Energy) 
: 
 The basis is that if we were to reach our target of 10000 new solar water heating units per year that would meet only 3 percent of our nation’s demand growth in any one year meaning that the other 97 percent would need to be met elsewhere. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Can he confirm that on suitable houses a good solar water heater will save 2000 to 3000 kilowatt-hours a year and that even in the winter months it will average 15 percent to 18 percent of total household power compared with the 10 percent target he has set those households and is that not about as huge as anything that one household can do? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Can I just be clear that the Government is very supportive of solar water heating. Indeed it is part of our National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy. The point I was making then and now is that in a national sense it makes a modest contribution. The member would say that in a domestic sense it makes a good contribution and I would agree with her. 
Russell Fairbrother 
: Is the Government taking steps to increase New Zealand’s supplies of renewable energy from sources other than solar power? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is running a solar hot water grants scheme to help the industry achieve its medium-term target of 10000 new systems a year for New Zealand homes. Funding for this scheme will be increased in the forthcoming Budget. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: To quote the Minister when one does the arithmetic how does he suggest we make sense of the current energy crisis when New Zealand has more than 800 years of coal that could be cleanly burnt for electricity generation if he were to move more quickly to make clear the cost of Kyoto compliance? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The cost of Kyoto compliance has been made very clear. We have said that we will put a carbon charge approximating the international price of carbon but capped at— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: What is it? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The member now wants to know what the international price of carbon is. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: No—what’s your price? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Oh—but capped at $25 a tonne. If the member wants more certainty than that we can add to the cap a floor but I do not think that that is the sort of certainty he is looking for. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: When will the Minister announce his proposals to promote solar technology as required by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act give incentives for it as required by the current power crisis and help to build capacity in the New Zealand solar industry as required for our future energy security? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: That stuff is going to come out bit by bit. I just acknowledge that the next Budget is where the next bit comes from and the details of that will be announced this afternoon.