David Dempsey: NZ’s plan to drill for ‘supercritical’ geothermal energy holds promise and risk....

Hotter and deeper: how NZ’s plan to drill for ‘supercritical’ geothermal energy holds promise and risk

New Zealand’s North Island features a number of geothermal systems, several of which are used to generate some 1,000 MegaWatts of electricity. But deeper down there may be even more potential.

The government is now investing NZ$60 million to explore what is known as “supercritical” geothermal energy, following five years of feasibility research led by GNS Science.

Bryan Leyland: “Things you know that ain't so” - fracking

“Things you know that ain't so”: “Fracking is risky and dangerous and should be banned”

According to one website, “Fracking brings rampant environmental and economic problems to communities across the country.… Fracking accidents and leaks pollute rivers, streams and underground sources of drinking water.”

Much of the opposition goes back to a movie called “Gasland” that grossly exaggerated the effects of fracking by showing pictures of flaming tapwater, a fishkill caused by coal mine run-off, and so on.

Frank Newman: The good oil on interest rates

Last week the Reserve Bank issued its latest review of the Official Cash Rate (OCR). As expected the OCR remained unchanged at 3.5%.

The last rise was in July. At that time the consensus amongst interest rate watchers was for a rise in the OCR before the end of this year. Now the consensus expects interest rates to remain at current levels until September next year. Some are of the view that the next rise could be even further out.

With annual inflation running at about 1% and the heat coming out of the Auckland property market, there appears to be little need for the Reserve Bank to clutch the interest rate levers just yet. Contributing to the lower inflation are falling oil prices, a weaker global economy, and lower ACC charges.

Ron Smith: On being 'fracked'

The London Times, quoting NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, reports that, “Russian agents are secretly working with environmental groups campaigning against fracking to try to maintain Europe’s dependence on gas imports from Moscow.

It should be no surprise to us.  This sort of manipulation of left-leaning activists was a characteristic and quite successful ploy during the Cold War period, when, for example, western anti-nuclear groups were exploited to protest against the dispositions of NATO forces in Europe in the 1980s.  The successful resistance to these pressures by (in particular) President Reagan and Prime-Minister Thatcher, led to the ultimate collapse of the ‘evil empire’ that was holding a substantial part of Eastern Europe in what then seemed perpetual political subservience.

Matt Ridley: The Frackers

This is a review of a book on the people who made the shale gas revolution: Gregory Zuckerman's, The Frackers.

In the long tradition of serendipitous mistakes that led to great discoveries, we can now add a key moment in 1997. Nick Steinsberger, an engineer with Mitchell Energy, was supervising the hydraulic fracturing of a gas well near Fort Worth, Texas, when he noticed that the gel and chemicals in the “fracking fluid” were not mixing properly. So the stuff being pumped underground to crack the rock was too watery, not as gel-like as it should be.