Internet Party Promises Smart Future for Environment

Meeting all of New Zealand’s future electricity needs using 100% renewable sources isn’t a pipedream, it could happen in the next decade if we act now, says the Internet Party.

In its draft environment policy, released today, the Internet Party has set a goal of ensuring all of New Zealand’s electricity is generated using 100% renewable sources by 2025.

“New Zealand is well-placed to become a world-leading clean energy economy because we already generate nearly three-quarters of our power from renewable sources such as hydro,” said Internet Party chief executive Vikram Kumar.

“But we can and must go further for current and future generations, so we will ensure all of New Zealand’s electricity needs are met by 100% renewable sources such as hydro, wind, geothermal, and solar by 2025. As well as being good for the environment, this will boost the economy, create jobs, strengthen our green reputation worldwide, and promote investment in green technologies.

“Our vision will transform New Zealand into a world leader in green technologies.”

But it is not just in electricity generation that the Internet Party’s environmental vision sees New Zealand leading the way.

The creation of smart cities and homes using latest technologies would reduce the burden on the environment and create a better standard of living for more Kiwis.

“Smart technologies hold solutions to a huge number of current environmental problems, from reducing energy consumption and bills for householders to addressing traffic congestion in cities,” said Mr Kumar.

“We will encourage the development of smart cities, modelled on what we want to see done in the Christchurch rebuild, where we will direct a part of the already committed central government funding of re-creating Christchurch to make it a world-leading smart city that can serve as a blueprint for other cities here and overseas.

“We will also give greater priority to smart electricity meters, and to making smart homes a reality for everyone.”

The third area of the Internet Party’s draft environment policy is setting up green data centres. Inspired by the success of Dublin, Mr Kumar said the Internet Party would develop a futuristic, global-scale, green data centre in New Zealand using a public-private partnership model.

“The Internet Party will attract and negotiate terms with one leading global Internet company to use that green data centre to kickstart a thriving Internet business ecosystem around it.”

Having already made its Privacy and Internet Freedom policy available to members for input, the Internet Party’s draft environment policy is now online for review and discussion on the Policy Forum. The work-in-progress environment policy document is available HERE.

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