State of Emergency

[KW]

It needs to be sorted all right. Has been going on for years. Maybe time to stop planting pines and plant high value natives. Natives seem more stable in the ground.

Don't worry, carbon farming will soon be more profitable than actual forestry or animal farming.  We'll all be living surrounded by trees shortly.  

[Hectorplains]

Don't worry, carbon farming will soon be more profitable than actual forestry or animal farming.  We'll all be living surrounded by trees shortly. 

Carbon plantings have saved several highly indebted farms that I know of here on the East Coast.  One in particular that I was helping with, had run out of all banking options and it was trees or give over the keys.  The planting hasn't impacted on the farm's animal capacity, as the land planted is really only good for trees.  However; under ETS not all trees are equal.  Dirty  old pines currently earn 2 to 3 times more credits than indigenous trees.  Natives are also more expensive to buy.  This farm planted poplars as they are cheap and support erosion prevention. Poplars can be spaced at low-density, as the current ETS requirements for number of stems is low and they yield a large number of credits. Native regeneration would have been preferred but the economics did not stack up.

[Shareguy]

How many of us wish we still had a copper line. Fibre is good until the power is out.

[Basil]

No internet on my copper line yet either.  Can't do any real work today...go boating instead, life is "harsh"

[KW]

under ETS not all trees are equal.  Dirty  old pines currently earn 2 to 3 times more credits than indigenous trees.  

Why is that?  I'd have a thought a tree is a tree, in regards to the amount of carbon they sink.

[Crackity]

Why is that?  I'd have a thought a tree is a tree, in regards to the amount of carbon they sink.

This is the supposed reason - believe it or not 


Landowners planting forests for carbon credits should plant pine trees rather than natives to achieve the best returns, a carbon consultant says. 

Ollie Belton, a partner of Permanent Forests NZ a Christchurch-based carbon consultancy, said that the rate that natives absorb carbon dioxide was much lower than for pinus radiata.

Sequestration calculations used by the Emissions Trading Scheme for forests under 100 hectares showed that pinus radiata absorbed almost 1000 tonnes of carbon over 25 years, while native forests absorbed less than 300 tonnes.   

Belton said measurements he had done on native forests of more than 100ha showed most performed less than the ETS calculations, some only achieving a half to a third of this. In contrast, many pine forests performed better than the default figures.

[Hectorplains]

This is the supposed reason - believe it or not 


Landowners planting forests for carbon credits should plant pine trees rather than natives to achieve the best returns, a carbon consultant says. 

Ollie Belton, a partner of Permanent Forests NZ a Christchurch-based carbon consultancy, said that the rate that natives absorb carbon dioxide was much lower than for pinus radiata.

Sequestration calculations used by the Emissions Trading Scheme for forests under 100 hectares showed that pinus radiata absorbed almost 1000 tonnes of carbon over 25 years, while native forests absorbed less than 300 tonnes.   

Belton said measurements he had done on native forests of more than 100ha showed most performed less than the ETS calculations, some only achieving a half to a third of this. In contrast, many pine forests performed better than the default figures.

Pine has its place.  It is not the best tree to plant in erosion zones and then there is the ongoing wilding pine issue.  All native trees are treated as if they had identical properties from Kauri to Kanuka.  ETS needs to take into account a wider range of factors.  Anyway, I've taken this miles off topic.

[Crackity]

Pine has its place.  It is not the best tree to plant in erosion zones and then there is the ongoing wilding pine issue.  All native trees are treated as if they had identical properties from Kauri to Kanuka.  ETS needs to take into account a wider range of factors.  Anyway, I've taken this miles off topic.

An interesting off topic though 

The carbon ETS issue and vested interests are skewing the rational response to planting more natives

[THESTG]

Just got internet back on but no power yet. Power has been out here (Rissington) since tuesday with power not due back on till next month. Thought I would check my Electric Kiwi app & it shows I am using 15kWh per day while in a black out!
Any one else out there on Electric Kiwi getting charged during a power outage?

[Ferg]

I'm thinking of adding submersible pump, another chainsaw and maybe a portable generator to the household.

At the risk of stating the obvious, if you buy above the road and slightly elevated then the risk of floods is greatly reduced. I never buy below the road.  The thing with a pump is it will need power.  Power which you might want to use for other things and it may be ineffective against a tide - although likely ok for tidy up afterwards.

I have a petrol generator and a bunch of kick ass hand and power tools.  I fire up the generator once every 6 months to make sure it works.  I don't keep too much petrol in it given NZ petrol ages badly.  I keep petrol on hand that I use in other tools so I get through it anyway before it deteriorates.  My risk is being caught in a weather event with an empty spare tank...

Necessities that proved invaluable were having the generator, cash (EFTPOS network was down), spare petrol, long power cables, multi-plug power boards, petrol powered tools, a decent arborist pull saw & loppers, gas stove top (& BBQ) for cooking, torch & batteries, non-perishable food, a large water tank plus the usual handyman tools.  We have been relatively ok this past week.

The only things we didn't have were a phone on the other cellular network and an old school AM radio to get news updates (note the TV was not a priority when I needed the generator for the water pump, internet and fridge).  Yeah it's been a hassle and it still is out without hot water, some power and patchy cell coverage but it's nothing compared to what others are going through.

The lifesaver for us was having Aonet as our ISP.  It's a small ISP based in Bulls that deploys self-sustaining microwave stations on hilltops to service rural communities.  Vodafone was hopeless despite their e-mails saying otherwise.  I don't work for Aonet and have no affiliation (other than being a customer) but I thoroughly recommend them.  Fast uncapped service that is reasonably priced.

[THESTG]

Just got internet back on but no power yet. Power has been out here (Rissington) since tuesday with power not due back on till next month. Thought I would check my Electric Kiwi app & it shows I am using 15kWh per day while in a black out!
Any one else out there on Electric Kiwi getting charged during a power outage?

All sorted now Their reply to my e-mail:

Apologies for the confusion. We understand that the account balances must have been showing off track for the last few days. You will surely be not charged for the days you have been out of power. The metering company will send us the data and then your account will be reconciled.
The usage you are seeing is estimated and this will be rectified. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

[Basil]

Sobering stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300813063/cyclone-gabrielle-startling-new-images-of-the-aftermath

[BlackPeter]

How many of us wish we still had a copper line. Fibre is good until the power is out.

Copperline only good if you still have a switch exchange with a battery supplying power over the copperline. Quite old technology ...

You probably need to go these days to the museum to find this sort of stuff ... the last one I saw was in Ferrymead.

[Untamed]

Very sobering, and contrary to what some here believed  - there is zero doubt that it IS a "National Disaster."

The worst weather event I have seen in my 62 years, that is for sure.

Sobering stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300813063/cyclone-gabrielle-startling-new-images-of-the-aftermath

[ShiningStar]

Sobering stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300813063/cyclone-gabrielle-startling-new-images-of-the-aftermath
[/quote



Yes its sobering stuff thats for sure Basil. The destruction and loss of life from this extreme weather event has been catastrophic. It will take a very long time for people to rebuild their lives. I cant even begin to imagine what it has been like for them. Silt and water up to the ceilings running through their homes, watching loved ones being swept away. How do you cope with having your 2 year old daughter being swept from your arms! 

And yes untamed there were people on here claiming this was nothing more than fake news fear mongering by the media. WOW