Alliance's Pure South cuts win gold
Meat co-operative Alliance Group has bagged four gold medals at the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards, achieving top honours for every cut entered.
Alliance Group says decarbonisation projects at three South Island processing plants is a major boost to its goal of reducing its carbon footprint.
Alliance Group and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) will co-fund the projects at the co-operative’s Lorneville and Mataura plants in Southland and at Smithfield plant in Timaru. Together, the plants employ approximately 3,000 people at peak season.
As part of the decarbonisation project, Alliance will install an electrode boiler to reduce the use of existing coal fired boilers at its Lorneville plant near Invercargill, saving 11,739 tonnes of carbon per annum.
The co-operative will also replace the existing main coal fired boiler at its Mataura plant with a high temperature heat pump system and small diesel boiler used only for peaking, saving 6,401 tonnes of carbon per annum and significantly improving the air quality for local residents.
In the third project, Alliance will capture waste heat from the refrigeration plant at Smithfield to replace coal use for process heat, saving 3,811 tonnes of carbon per annum.
The emissions savings from the decarbonisation projects represent the equivalent of taking more than 8,000 average sized passenger cars off the road.
“In 2019, Alliance Group set a goal of ending the use of coal at our plants within 10 years,” says David Surveyor, chief executive of Alliance Group.
“We have been tracking the carbon emissions from our plants, examining other fuel options across our network and rolling out a range of energy-saving projects. The co-operative aims to cut our carbon footprint significantly and this investment will help us reach that goal faster.
“It marks another milestone in our Energy Transition Pathway developed in collaboration with EECA to decarbonise our seven processing facilities and secure a low emissions future for the co-operative.
“We are proud to be contributing to New Zealand industry’s decarbonisation journey. This investment also enables us to keep jobs in the region, will stimulate the local economy and support local employment.
“Importantly, adopting clean technology means a healthier work environment and air for our people and our communities.”
The Commerce Commission says connectivity options for rural New Zealanders are front-of-mind as it begins a formal investigation into the future of the copper network.
Grand Finalists have been selected, all regional finals have concluded, and the journey towards the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final is underway.
Hopes of NZ sheepmeat prices picking up anytime soon in the country's key export market of China looks highly unlikely.
Regional councils are welcoming the certainty for councils in today’s Resource Management Act (RMA) announcement by the Government.
ASB says the decision to sign on to the AgriZeroNZ joint venture came out of a wish to be a part of the solution.
Federated Farmers says changes announced to the Resource Management Act today mark the end of the war on farming.
OPINION: This old mutt understands that NZ Post will soon no longer be delivering to rural addresses on Saturdays.
OPINION: Your old mate notes that research on the make-up of the new parliament shows it is now far more…