The cost of net zero

Emeritus Professor of Engineering Mike Kelly has published a paper estimating the costs to New Zealand to achieve net zero emissions.

He says three major projects would need to be completed:

• Ground transport will have been electrified.
• Heat, especially industrial heat, will have been electrified.
• The electricity sector – generation, transmission, and distribution – will have been greatly expanded to cope with the increased demand from the first two projects.

And this has to be done within the next 26 years.

The electricity sector would need to grow from 155 PJ to 425 PJ. The total cost is estimated at NZ$500 billion.