Source
https://www.ieabioenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/CountryReport2024_NewZealand_final.pdf — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
IEA Bioenergy — Implementation of Bioenergy in New Zealand (2024 Update)
Authoritative national bioenergy/energy baseline — corroborates biomass = heat-only (RT_154)
IEA Bioenergy Technology Collaboration Programme, Country Reports series (Dec 2024; ed. Luc Pelkmans, contributions Paul Bennett/Scion). Compiled from the 2024 IEA World Energy Balances + FAOstat, reviewed by national delegates. Establishes NZ’s renewable-supply baseline and shows bioenergy is overwhelmingly industrial process heat, not electricity — the empirical backstop for the spec’s biomass-is-heat-only decision (D01). data_quality: high (authoritative intergovernmental compilation; secondary aggregation of IEA/FAO data, 2022 data year).
Summary
A national stocktake of bioenergy within NZ’s energy system. Renewables supplied 45% of total energy supply (TES) and 33% of final energy consumption in 2022; bioenergy is 5.6% of final energy, dominated (92%) by solid biomass used mainly for industrial heat. NZ’s renewable electricity (86.6%) is hydro- and geothermal-led; biomass-electricity is marginal (1.5–1.7%). The report notes NZ’s low population density and high forest area leave substantial untapped solid-biomass potential, while liquid biofuels, biogas and energy-from-waste are underdeveloped. Energy-import dependency is 26% overall (oil >80%, transport-driven); coal, gas and all biofuels are domestically produced.
Key claims
- claim: "NZ total energy supply (TES) 2022 = 798 PJ; fossil ~55% (oil products 34%/268 PJ, natural gas 16%/130 PJ, coal 5%/42 PJ). Renewables 45% (359 PJ): geothermal 205 PJ (25.7% of TES), hydro 95 PJ (11.9%), bioenergy 48 PJ (6.0%), wind 1.3%, solar 0.2%. Geothermal is 26% of TES but only ~6.6% of final energy consumption (much of geothermal TES is unused waste heat). Final energy consumption renewable share = 33%, of which ~20% from biomass."
source_location: "Highlights; Total Energy Supply (Fig 2); footnote 2"
- claim: "Bioenergy composition (stable ~45–50 PJ for decades): solid biomass 92%, biogas 7%, bioethanol + charcoal ~0.1 PJ. Solid biofuels: wood-processing industries ~20 PJ/yr, electricity-&-heat output 17–20 PJ, residential ~6 PJ. Biogas ~3 PJ since 2014. Liquid biofuels <0.5% of bioenergy. No municipal-solid-waste energy reported in NZ."
source_location: "Evolution of bioenergy in total energy supply (Fig 3)"
- claim: "Role of bioenergy by sector (2022, final consumption): electricity 1.7% bioenergy / 86.6% renewable (58.8% hydro + 19.1% geothermal), 45 TWh (161 PJ); transport 0.1% bioenergy / 0.4% renewable, 204 PJ; fuel-and-heat 16.2% bioenergy / 20.8% renewable, 167 PJ; TOTAL FINAL 5.6% bioenergy / 32.8% renewable, 531 PJ. Bioenergy is 'used as a direct fuel source rather than for electricity generation' — biomass-based electricity is marginal at 1.5%. Most bioenergy is used for heating, particularly in industry."
source_location: "Role of bioenergy in different sectors — Overview (Table 3); Highlights"
- claim: "Energy independence + land use: energy-import dependency 26% overall, but oil >80% import-dependent (oil dominates transport); coal a net export, gas + all biofuels domestically produced. Land: 263,000 km², population 5.2M, density 20/km²; ~40% agricultural land (grassland/livestock), 38% forest (≈¼ planted production forest). Final energy per capita 2.55 toe — transport 0.94 (37%), industry-energy 0.71 (28%), residential 0.30 (12%), commercial 0.25 (10%) — transport higher and residential lower than the IEA-Bioenergy member median."
source_location: "Energy Dependency (Fig 4); Country Profile (Fig 1, Table 1)"
- claim: "Policy framework + targets: Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019 — net-zero all GHG except biogenic methane by 2050; biogenic methane −24% to −47% below 2017 levels by 2050 (−10% by 2030). Electricity renewable targets 90% by 2025 / 100% by 2030. The report concludes NZ's use of biomass is modest relative to its domestic potential, with substantial scope to deploy solid biomass and high opportunity in liquid biofuels, biogas and energy-from-waste."
source_location: "National Policy Framework (Table 2); Highlights"Neobiome Intelligence relevance
The authoritative national backstop for two NI design choices. (1) Biomass = heat-only (D01): the report shows bioenergy is overwhelmingly direct industrial heat, with biomass-electricity marginal (1.5–1.7%) — independent intergovernmental corroboration of the spec’s decision to treat biomass as a community heat option, not electricity (joins Interview I [INT_001], OT_055, and the Wood Energy Strategy). (2) National renewable-supply baseline (45% TES / 33% final / 86.6% renewable electricity) is a validation backdrop for the national-scope framing (D_002) — utility-scale hydro/geothermal dominance sits outside NI’s community scope but frames where community generation adds value. The forestry land share (38% forest, ¼ planted; ~20 PJ/yr wood-processing residue) underpins the biomass district-heat feedstock premise (int_001’s ~50 km radius). The 26% energy-import dependency (oil >80%, transport-driven) is the macro analogue of the community self-sufficiency / import-avoidance argument (cf. OT_025). ⚠ Secondary IEA/FAO compilation, 2022 data year; geothermal’s TES share overstates its delivered-energy role (waste heat). Resolves RT_154.
Research targets
Research gaps
- The report’s underlying figures are the IEA World Energy Balances 2024 (paid IEA dataset) and FAOstat — not high-value standalone retrieval targets.
- The NZ Wood Energy Strategy & Action Plan and the geothermal strategy referenced here are already tracked as RT_157. No new RTs.
Connections
Links to
Referenced by
Sources (3): LIT_084 · OT_121 · URL_013
EDT domains (1): D01: Renewable Energy & Storage Systems