Still a slow boat to China!
Hopes of NZ sheepmeat prices picking up anytime soon in the country's key export market of China looks highly unlikely.
One of the world’s largest processors of sheep meat, Alliance Group Limited, aims to reduce carbon emissions by 3,300 tonnes over the next three years.
The target is part of a new energy management agreement with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).
The agreement includes a reduction of approximately 10 Gigawatt hours of thermal and electricity energy use per annum by 2017. This is the equivalent annual energy use of about 960 households.
Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor says reducing the company’s energy use makes good business and environmental sense and that the new partnership with EECA is the next phase of Alliance Group’s energy management journey.
“If we achieve our targets, we can expect to save approximately $620,000 in energy savings annually, which can then be used to make further investments in our operations and improve returns for our farmer shareholders,” he says.
“We are committed to the sustainable management of the natural and physical resources that we depend on.”
EECA chief executive Mike Underhill is calling for more energy-intensive industries, such as the primary industries, to set a higher standard for energy efficiency and the associated carbon reduction.
“Alliance Group is one of the increasing number of New Zealand companies that are investing in good energy management as part of smart and sustainable business approach,” he says.
It is estimated that New Zealand firms could collectively save the country $1.6 billion in costs every year through technology upgrades and process-improvement.
Underhill says EECA is working with some of the country’s largest energy users to develop collaboration agreements that help companies achieve savings in a structured way.
“Energy efficient companies make significant gains by reducing carbon emissions, improving the bottom line and building a brand that is valued by its consumers. It doesn’t get much smarter than that.”
Quick facts
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Two major red meat sector projects are getting up to a combined $1.7 million in funding from the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
OPINION: The distress that the politicians and bureaucrats are causing to the people of Wairoa and the wider Tairāwhiti is unforgivable.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
OPINION: Your canine crusader is not surprised by the recent news that New Zealand plant-based ‘fake meat’ business is in…