Smelter boss: The Tiwai Point carbon story is getting lost
Smelter boss: The Tiwai Point carbon story is getting lost
“It is very safe to say, in the event of a Tiwai closure, and I hope that is a long way into the future, global emissions go up significantly."
New Zealand Aluminium Smelter boss Chris Blenkiron says it ‘breaks his heart’ that people are not ‘loud and proud’ about the Tiwai Point operation’s carbon story.
On Tuesday Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods called on Tiwai smelter owner Rio Tinto to signal its long-term commitment to Southland.
She stated that could help in the wider renewable energy transition by underwriting new-build renewable generation and helping with power peaks.
Woods also pointed to NZ Steel’s partnership with the Government to reduce 800,000 tonnes of climate pollution each year.
She asked that the smelter follow suit while speaking at the Murihiku Regeneration Energy and Innovation Wānanga in Invercargill on Tuesday.
It was Blenkiron’s turn to speak on Wednesday.
While the smelter’s chief executive could not provide the certainty that many want from in terms of the smelter operating well beyond the end of 2024, Blenkiron again highlighted the desire to remain operating at Tiwai Point long-term.
“I know that you want me to stand up and give you certainty, but there’s not a lot I can tell you that might answer the questions. These are very complex and ongoing discussions.
“We want to be here, and we want to be here for the long term. But that’s not just our decision though, we need to be working with the partners and they need to want that too.”
The Government capped greenhouse emissions to 290 million tonnes (between 2022 and 2025) and if the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter stayed open past 2024, that emissions target would become harder to achieve.
According to government records, Tiwai Point produces nearly 640,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.
However, Blenkiron spoke passionately against that thought process saying global emissions would rise if the smelter at Tiwai Point was to close.
“It breaks my heart a little bit that through some corporate behaviour, or whatever it is, that the story of carbon and Tiwai does get lost, or at least not as clearly understood as it needs to be.”
“So, the emissions profile of Tiwai, we are around two tonnes of carbon for every one tonne of aluminium that we produce. The global average is 12 or 13 tonnes of carbon per tonne of aluminium.”
“It is very safe to say, in the event of a Tiwai closure, and I hope that is a long way into the future, global emissions go up significantly.
“That is something I’m proud of and I think that is something New Zealand should be proud of. We are making some of the lowest carbon aluminium on the planet right now right here in Murihiku.”
Many at the seminar spoke of the need to move the discussion from it being the smelter or another industry for Southland.
Instead, the goal should instead be to keep the smelter while also building other industries, such as green hydrogen.
Naturally, Blenkiron agreed.
“Yes, I argue the smelter does provide the bedrock for the community, in terms of jobs and GDP, which is why we are fighting so hard to keep it here.”
“The carbon story is why we are fighting so hard to keep it here. But it needs to be a ‘and’.”
The smelter is an integral part of the southern economy and we should be fighting tooth and nail to make sure it stays operating. Aucklanders get excited by promises of power price reductions if the smelter was to close but the cost of redistributing the power north would more than outweigh any savings.
They sit in their cars on clogged motorways around Auckland polluting the environment without a thought of the damage they cause but those traffic jams gives them time to think about everyone else.
We need to change the conversation to the carbon footprint they leave just getting to work