1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,679 Speaker 1: We've got our new wood Energy Strategy and action plan. 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Bet you didn't know that. I mean on a busy 3 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: day of weather and of course strikes, I bet you 4 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:08,320 Speaker 1: didn't know we had our wood Energy Strategy and action 5 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: plan out. The idea is to fire up no pun intended, 6 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: the bio energy sector. Wood energy, they argue, could replace 7 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: forty percent of the fossil fuel by twenty fifty. That's 8 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 1: the equivalent apparently of three hundred thousand tons of coal 9 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: from Huntley. 10 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 2: So. 11 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: Brian Cox is the executive officer of the Bio Energy 12 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: Association and is with us Brian morning, Good morning, twenty 13 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: fifty still a long way off. Where's the industry as 14 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: a whole at as we sit here in twenty twenty five. 15 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 2: It's been really developing quite fast, but we need to 16 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 2: go faster. And this is what the government did yesterday 17 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 2: is a little step in the way. But we've got 18 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 2: to do a lot more because we've got such an 19 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 2: opportunity which we're missing because we're just too slow about 20 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 2: doing it. But we've got the biggest resource energy resource 21 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 2: in the country is in our forests. Yes is export? 22 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: Is it just wood? I'm reading a lot about Fonterra 23 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: and they're flipping some of the furnaces to what we 24 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: call biomass. Is would biomass or is that completely different? 25 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 2: No, same thing. It's just two words saying the same thing. 26 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: Okay. So the difficulty with biomass once again, correct me up, 27 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: I'm wrong is I saw a documentary and when wouldn't 28 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: didn't provide the heat they wanted, they started burning tires, 29 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,039 Speaker 1: which of course is not what you want because they 30 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: are good with heat. So do we have an issue 31 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: here or not? No? 32 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 2: Absolutely not. Is that we export in our logs energy 33 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 2: to other countries and we could be used at ourselves here. 34 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 2: Now they have to prose it up. You put it 35 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 2: into a boiler, you make the heat, make eletricity, or 36 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 2: you've made heat. It's just a mattery. You just got 37 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 2: to do it. 38 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: If I run a commercial anything on coal, do I 39 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: have to convert or do I just have to stop 40 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: using coal and put wood in? 41 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 2: Well, it depends on your boiler. But a lot of 42 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 2: the boilers, and some of these are the Fonterra ones, 43 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 2: which they've already done where they were on coal, and 44 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 2: what they've done is they've flipped them into bio mass 45 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 2: in that case generally in a case of a wood palette, 46 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 2: but there's a range of different wood fuels that you 47 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 2: can put in. There's summer just woodship and rugh palettes. 48 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 2: Is the sort of a type end range. 49 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: And the heat is still the same as coal, better 50 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: or worse. 51 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 2: Oh no, it's not as good and the cover of 52 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 2: your value of coal as much higher, So you do 53 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 2: need more by a mass. But on the other hand, 54 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 2: is it's a renewable domestic fuel and we've got plenty 55 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 2: of it. And as more and more people have converted 56 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 2: from coal or gas too using wood, is that the 57 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 2: market has been responding and we're getting more and more 58 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 2: picked up from the forest. You know, you drive past 59 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 2: and you see all the debris left on the floor 60 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 2: of slash. Sure that could be picked up and put 61 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,359 Speaker 2: into a word, But if there's no where to use it, 62 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 2: like what happened to in entirety is you know you can, 63 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,520 Speaker 2: you don't pick it up because for what purpose. So 64 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 2: we've got to get that people want to use it, 65 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 2: and then people will pick it up and then it 66 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 2: won't go onto the beaches like Tolliger Bay. 67 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: If we started, if we just use wood tomorrow instead 68 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: of coal. Would we need to plant a lot more forests? Oh? 69 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 2: Absolutely not. 70 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: So we got all the forests, We got all the wood, 71 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:19,679 Speaker 1: all the forest, all the trees we need. 72 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 2: We could do with more. If we went to our 73 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 2: full potential, then we need to expand more. But we 74 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 2: are so far away from that, and so we're talking 75 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 2: principally about the residues. So when you cut down a tree, 76 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 2: they take the logs out, they take the good timber 77 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 2: of that, and they leave a lot behind. It's that 78 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 2: bit that they're leave behind that we're using at the moment, 79 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 2: and we will be able to do that for a 80 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 2: long time. But then once we've used that, what do 81 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 2: we do then? Well, some of the low grade logs 82 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 2: that are going to China are real low grade, and 83 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 2: we can get better value by preturning them into energy 84 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 2: here and using it ourselves. So as a no brainer 85 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 2: that we should be using what we've already got and 86 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 2: we're currently wasting all. 87 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: Right, bro, nice insight price appreciate it. Brian Cox, executive 88 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: officer at the Bio Energy Association. Winston's been on about 89 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: that forever, not processing or not adding value to our 90 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: logs in this particular part of the world. 91 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 2: For more from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to 92 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 2: news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow 93 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 2: the podcast on iHeartRadio.