Merry Christmas

To all our clients, colleagues and partners, as 2008 draws to a close we would like to wish you a wonderful festive season, a well earned break, and a safe and prosperous New Year. We look forward to catching up with you again in 2009.

Contents

•    New Technology NZ programme
•    Airshed - Emission Management Services
•    EECA Energy Project assistance
•    National EnviroSchools Youth Jam
•    ACE Carbon Calculator does well in independent review
•    CATALYST^® Auckland office

New Technology NZ programme

After ten years of funding business research and development projects Technology NZ have remodeled their investment processes. FRST has simplified TechNZ from 12 support schemes to one single programme. The new programme is summarized below:

• There are two categories of grant: Technology and Skills & Capability
• Previous schemes such as TBG, TIF and SmartStart have been replaced by a single scheme covering the two categories above
• Business Managers will be retained but clients will also work through appointed Regional Technology Partners (RTPs)
  
• Nine RTPs have been sourced from various Economic Development Agencies nationwide
• Funding process has been simplified and streamlined, reducing the jargon and number of grants and simplifying the application, processing, invoicing and reporting processes
• There will be a focus on improved client engagement, especially beyond R&D stage (ie through to commercialization)
• TechNZ will continue to fund a “balanced” portfolio but will look to include more risk

For more information on the new programme click here.

We have recently started working with Airshed, a newly established provider of emission management services. Airshed was established by Todd Spencer and Maia Ririnui and they offer a range of emissions management services, a carbon neutral certification program and a portfolio of high-quality carbon offsets that help fund projects to reduce emissions.

We are in the early stages of developing some projects with Airshed and will be looking to announce some of these developments in 2009. Their website is an award winner and we recommend you have a look and see what they have to offer.

EECA Energy Project assistance

Two sources of funding related to energy are available from EECA. The first is related to the costs of improvements in energy intensive businesses, while the second is focussed on feasibility studies for distributed generation.

EECA is offering cash grants for businesses that are prepared to take the first step towards implementing energy efficient technologies. Grants of up to 40% of the capital cost of the project are available, with a maximum of $100,000 for each grant. Technologies should be capable of reducing the energy intensity of an organisation’s operation, have the potential to be applied to a majority of businesses across their industry sector, be commercially available and offer an acceptable payback period.

For more information visit EECA's Energy Intensive Business website.

The Pilot Feasibility Fund for Distributed Generation is set up to assist potential distributed generation Project Developers verify whether the distributed generation project identified can be a viable and sound investment. EECA will contribute up to 75% of the cost of an approved project, with a maximum grant of $30,000 per application to assist with the completion of feasibility studies to investigate projects including, mini or small wind farms, landfill gas, biogas from sewage, geothermal, minihydro, or other distributed generation projects. Projects include those that generate electricity or both electricity and heat in a cogeneration process, whether connected to the local distribution network or off-grid generation projects.

Let us know if you think you have a project that might be suitable.

National EnviroSchools Youth Jam

Justin Ford-Robertson again participated in this event in Rotorua. The focus was on students enhancing sustainability of the host venue. Global issues were brought down to feasible actions undertaken by the students: installation of gardens, composting and worm farms, energy audit and carbon footprint assessment. Planting to offset emissions was undertaken as part of a local wetland restoration project, and other recommendations for action have been submitted. There are some very talented young people amongst us, and it is inspirational to see their passion for creating a more sustainable society.

There are numerous EnviroSchools and projects happening in our communities and we encourage you to get involved where feasible. We enjoy the social and educational aspects, being able to share ideas and participate in nurturing tomorrow’s leaders and creating more resilient communities.

ACE Carbon Calculator independent review

In a review of online carbon calculators recently undertaken by a postgraduate student at Waikato University's Management School, ACE, our Annual Carbon Emissions calculator, has rated highly. To read the review click here (pdf; 950KB).

ACE is a complimentary carbon calculator designed to determine the monthly and annual carbon footprint of homes, individuals and SMEs. For more information and a free download visit our website.

Auckland office

In March we opened an office in Manukau City to assist us to service clients more effectively in the upper North Island. For the first week of every month one of our consultants will be based in the new office and will have the opportunity to catch up with those of you in the Auckland, Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions. The dates of when we are in Auckland are on our website.