NEOBIOME

OT_126: EECA (2021) — Off-road Liquid Fuel Insights: quantifying off-road diesel and petrol use in New Zealand…

Properties5
typesource
source_typeother
authorAndrew Greed, Tyler Byers, Aimee Van Barneveld, Bryan Field, Matthew Fanselow
year2021
topicsfood_systems_agriculture, mobility_transport, nz_specific

13 min read

OT_126: EECA (2021) — Off-road Liquid Fuel Insights: quantifying off-road diesel and petrol use in New Zealand…

Source

https://www.eeca.govt.nz/assets/EECA-Resources/Research-papers-guides/Off-road-liquid-fuel-insights.pdf — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)

EECA (2021) — Off-road Liquid Fuel Insights: quantifying off-road diesel and petrol use in New Zealand

The national off-road diesel/petrol map — 1,065 M L diesel + 445 M L petrol off-road/yr, agriculture = 295 M L diesel (the NI rural-diesel baseline)

EECA/MartinJenkins survey-plus-statistics study quantifying where NZ’s off-road (non-road, tax-exempt) diesel and petrol are used, by sector and agricultural sub-sector, and how they are sourced. The NI-load-bearing numbers: agriculture uses 295 M L of off-road diesel/yr (sheep & beef 108, dairy 95, arable + ag contractors 74, horticulture 18), the largest off-road diesel user; total off-road diesel 1,065 M L/yr (≈29% of national diesel), total off-road petrol 445 M L/yr (≈14%). ⚠ This is a litres dataset — it carries NO dollar figure; the “700M/yr agriculture diesel spend (EECA)" cited by [[ot_066_rewiring-electric-farms-2024|OT_066]] is a Rewiring derivation (295 M L × ~diesel price ≈ 700M), for which this report is only the volume leg. Also useful for NI: the report finds diesel gensets are back-up-only, low-volume on remote farms — not a significant fuel use. Primary EECA report, read verbatim → data_quality: verified (two source-internal inconsistencies noted).

Summary

This July 2021 EECA report (delivered with MartinJenkins) sizes and disaggregates New Zealand’s off-road liquid-fuel use — fuel used for non-transport, non-road applications and exempt from road-user taxes (petrol excise / diesel RUC). It combines MBIE’s top-down delivery statistics (the quarterly DPFI and annual ALFS surveys) with a bottom-up survey of 295 off-road fuel-using businesses (237 in agriculture) and 282 recreational boat owners, to test the core statistical assumption (direct-delivered fuel = off-road; retail-network fuel = on-road) and to break national off-road volumes down by sector, agricultural sub-sector, end-use technology and supply channel. It finds the top-down method is “still fit for purpose,” with three notable exceptions where on-road-recorded fuel is actually off-road: large operators sharing bulk tanks, recreational marine refuelling at service stations (383 M L petrol + 50 M L diesel/yr), and agricultural ute/trailer tanks filled at the retail network (~9 M L diesel/yr). For Neobiome Intelligence the value is the rural-energy baseline: it is the primary NZ source for how much diesel the agriculture sector burns off-road (295 M L/yr) and in what machinery (tractors, irrigation pumps, utes, heavy machinery), which is the fossil load that on-farm electrification, solar tractors and micro-generation would displace — the demand-side complement to the farm-as-power-station economics in OT_066 / CR_034. It also settles a recurring off-grid question: diesel electricity generators, while present across agriculture/construction/mining, are back-up only (unreliable-supply remote farms) and burn insignificant volumes.

Key claims

- claim: "Twenty-eight percent of all liquid fossil fuel sold in New Zealand is used in off-road applications (industrial + recreational). In 2019 this contributed ~9% of New Zealand's energy-sector greenhouse gas emissions (2018 basis), representing 3.89 million tonnes of CO2-e per year. Off-road uses accounted for 6.6% of New Zealand's Total Consumer Energy in 2019."
  source_location: "Foreword p.1 (28%; footnote 1 = 3.89 Mt CO2-e); 'Off-road liquid fuel use in New Zealand' p.4 (6.6% TCE 2019; 9% energy-sector GHG 2018). ⚠ Foreword loosely says '9% of New Zealand's Greenhouse Gas Emissions'; the body qualifies it to 9% of energy-sector GHG (2018)."
- claim: "In 2019 New Zealand used just over 6.9 billion litres of petrol and diesel (3.2 billion litres petrol, 3.7 billion litres diesel). About 26% of diesel and 2% of petrol were estimated used off-road."
  source_location: "'Off-road liquid fuel use in New Zealand' p.4"
- claim: "Total off-road use in 2019 = 1,065 million litres of diesel (~29% of NZ diesel consumption) and 445 million litres of petrol (~14% of NZ petrol consumption). ⚠ These 29% / 14% off-road shares (pp.9–10) differ from the 26% / 2% shares stated on p.4 — an apparent scope difference (the higher shares include the reclassified recreational-marine and ute/trailer volumes; the recreational-marine petrol alone is 383 M L, i.e. the gap between 2% and 14%). Both figures appear verbatim in the report; reconciliation is inferred, not stated."
  source_location: "'Diesel insights' p.9 (1,065 M L, ~29%); 'Petrol insights' pp.10–11 (445 M L, ~14%); Conclusions p.30 (1,065 M L diesel / 445 M L petrol); cf. p.4 (26% / 2%)"
- claim: "Off-road diesel by sector (Figure 1, M L/yr): Agriculture 295, Building & Construction 193, Commercial 149, Industrial 141, Mining 82, Forestry & Logging 79, Recreational marine 50, Fishing & Hunting 46, Marina Refuelling Stations 26. Agriculture is the single largest off-road diesel user. Diesel is predominantly used in heavy machinery (tractors, diggers, heavy trucks) and light vehicles (utes)."
  source_location: "Figure 1 'Off-road diesel consumption by sector' p.9; Conclusions p.30 (Agriculture 295 / B&C 193 / Commercial 149)"
- claim: "Off-road petrol by sector (Figure 3, M L/yr): Recreational marine 383 (87% of off-road petrol), Agriculture 33 (7%), Commercial 21, Marina Refuelling Stations 5, Industrial 2; Fishing, Forestry, Building & Construction and Mining ~0. Petrol is predominantly used in recreational boats, small equipment (chainsaws, pumps) and light vehicles (utes, quad bikes). ⚠ The Conclusions bullet states recreational-marine petrol as '388 million litres' — inconsistent with the 383 M L stated in the body, Figure 3 and Table 2 (apparent typo)."
  source_location: "'Petrol insights' p.10 + Figure 3 p.11 (383, 33); Conclusions p.30 ('Recreational marine (388 million litres)' — typo vs 383 elsewhere)"
- claim: "Agriculture off-road diesel = 295 M L/yr, split by sub-sector: Sheep & beef farming 108 M L, Dairy farming 95 M L, Arable farming + agricultural contractors 74 M L, Horticulture 18 M L. Diesel is predominantly used in tractors, utes, irrigation pumps and heavy machinery (diggers, combine harvesters)."
  source_location: "'Sector insights: Agriculture' p.13 + Figure 5 p.13 (108 / 95 / 74 / 18). ⚠ Per-sub-sector infographics p.21 state horticulture as 17.5 M L (rounds to 18 in Figure 5)."
- claim: "Agriculture off-road petrol = 33 M L/yr: Sheep & beef 19, Dairy 11, Horticulture 2 (infographic 2.2), Arable + ag contractors 1 (infographic 1.4). Predominantly used in small equipment (chainsaws), quad/farm bikes and utes."
  source_location: "'Petrol insights' (Agriculture) p.16 + Figure 10 p.16 (19 / 11 / 2 / 1); sub-sector infographics pp.17–21 (2.2 / 1.4)"
- claim: "Off-road diesel is sourced 73% by direct delivery (into bulk onsite tanks or equipment) and 27% via the retail network; off-road petrol is sourced 54% direct delivery / 46% retail network (heavier retail reliance for petrol reflects health-and-safety compliance costs of onsite petrol tanks). Within agriculture, 74% of off-road diesel is direct-delivered; arable farming + agricultural contractors have the highest retail-network reliance (47%)."
  source_location: "Figure 2 p.10 (diesel 73/27); Figure 4 p.11 (petrol 54/46); 'Sector insights: Agriculture' p.13 + Figure 6 p.14 (74% direct; arable 53% direct / 47% retail)"
- claim: "Diesel electricity generators are used across many sectors (agriculture, building & construction, mining) but do NOT use large volumes of fuel: they are primarily a back-up to mains electricity supply (e.g. on remote farms where there may be an unreliable power supply), used infrequently and for short durations, so they do not consume significant quantities of diesel."
  source_location: "'Diesel electricity generators are used in New Zealand, but do not use large volumes of fuel' pp.8–9"
- claim: "Ute/trailer tanks: ~18% of the agricultural sector use ute/trailer tanks to move fuel; 13% of survey respondents use them as their PRIMARY off-road fuel source (≈ 6,660 agricultural businesses). Approximately 9 million litres of diesel/yr is sourced by agriculture from the retail network via ute/trailer tanks — currently mis-recorded as on-road transport in MBIE statistics, and corrected in these estimates. Average tank capacity: arable + ag contractors 1,838 L, dairy 688 L, horticulture 554 L, sheep & beef 506 L."
  source_location: "'Use of ute/trailer tanks for diesel' p.14 (18%, 13%, 6,660, 9 M L); Figure 8 p.15 (tank capacities); Summary p.2"
- claim: "Modelled annual average diesel accessed from the retail network via a ute/trailer tank, per enterprise (Table 5): Arable + agricultural contractors 1,292 L/yr, Dairy 818 L/yr, Horticulture 641 L/yr, Sheep & beef 108 L/yr. Percentage of each sub-sector filling via the retail network: arable 15%, horticulture 14%, dairy 10%, sheep & beef 9%."
  source_location: "Table 5 'Calculation of the volumes of diesel accessed from the retail network via ute/trailer tanks' p.44; Figure 9 p.16"
- claim: "Recreational marine: an estimated 383 million litres of petrol and 50 million litres of diesel per year is sourced from the retail network for recreational boating and is currently recorded as on-road use (this should be seen as an upper bound warranting further investigation). 86% of surveyed boats use petrol (14% diesel); 85% of boat owners refuel at service stations (15% at marinas). This extrapolates to ~522,127 petrol boats and ~28,094 diesel boats refuelling through the retail network."
  source_location: "'Sector insights: Recreational marine' p.29 (86%/14%, 85%/15%, 522,127 / 28,094); Summary p.2 + Conclusions p.31 (383 M L petrol + 50 M L diesel)"
- claim: "Other off-road diesel sectors: Forestry & Logging 79 M L/yr (68% direct / 32% retail); Building & Construction 193 M L/yr (75% direct / 25% retail; used in excavating equipment, heavy trucks >3.5 t, utes); Mining & Quarrying 82 M L/yr (75% direct / 25% retail; dump trucks, loaders, drilling). Forestry petrol ~0.1 M L/yr; Building & Construction petrol ~0.2 M L/yr; Mining petrol <0.1 M L/yr."
  source_location: "'Sector insights: Forestry' p.23 (79 M L, 68/32; 0.1 M L petrol); 'Building and construction' p.25 (193 M L, 75/25; 0.2 M L petrol); 'Mining and quarrying' p.27 (82 M L, 75/25; <0.1 M L petrol)"
- claim: "Agriculture off-road diesel timeseries 2010–2020 (Table 1, M L): 2010 = 213, 2019 = 295, 2020 = 293 — a rising trend over the decade. Sub-sector 2019 (Table 1): arable + ag contractor 74, dairy 95, horticulture 18, sheep & beef 108. Total NZ diesel 2019 = 3,701 M L; total NZ petrol 2019 = 3,219 M L."
  source_location: "Table 1 'Diesel consumption by sector 2010-2020' pp.33–34; Table 2 'Petrol consumption by sector 2010-2020' pp.35–36"
- claim: "Method: three phases — (1) review of MBIE top-down statistics with EECA/MBIE/oil companies/independent distributors/industry peak bodies; (2) an online survey of businesses using fuel off-road (295 responses total: 237 agriculture, 34 forestry, 7 mining/quarrying, 6 building & construction, 11 other) plus a survey of recreational boat owners (282 responses); (3) matching top-down and bottom-up data. Findings use 2019 data to avoid COVID-19 distortion of 2020. Agriculture sub-sector survey n: dairy 45, sheep & beef 95, horticulture 27, arable + ag contractors 62."
  source_location: "Appendix 2 'Research methods' pp.37–42 (295 / 237 / 34 / 7 / 6 / 11; 282 boats); 'Data from 2019 used for findings' p.5; 'Disaggregating agricultural fuel consumption' pp.41–42 (sub-sector n)"

Neobiome Intelligence relevance

This report is the primary NZ source for the rural off-road fuel baseline — the fossil-energy load that on-farm electrification, solar tractors, micro-generation and battery storage would displace. Its value to NI is threefold.

  • Agriculture diesel baseline (D01, demand side). Agriculture burns 295 M L of off-road diesel/yr — the single largest off-road diesel sector — in tractors, irrigation pumps, utes and heavy machinery, disaggregated to sheep & beef 108, dairy 95, arable + ag contractors 74, horticulture ~18 M L. This is the demand-side anchor for the farm-electrification case that OT_066 and CR_034 argue from the supply/economics side: it quantifies what is being displaced when a remote/rural community electrifies its machinery.
  • **The “700M/yr" figure is a derivation, now traceable to its volume leg.** OT_066 cites "NZ agriculture spends ~700M/yr on diesel (EECA)” — but this EECA report contains no dollar figure at all. The ~700M is a Rewiring Aotearoa derivation: the 295 M L agriculture off-road diesel in this report × a rural diesel price of ~2.37/L ≈ 699M. NI should treat 700M as derived (volume × price), not as an EECA-stated number; this report supplies the litres, and a separate NZ rural-diesel price is needed to close the dollar figure (see Research targets).
  • Off-grid diesel gensets settled (D01). The report directly answers a recurring NI off-grid question: diesel electricity generators on remote NZ farms are back-up only for unreliable mains supply — used infrequently, for short durations, consuming insignificant fuel volumes. This means the “remote-community diesel genset” is a firming/back-up device, not a primary energy load, consistent with the firming framing in CR_030. It does not support treating diesel generation as a large standing rural fuel demand.

Scope caveat: this is a national off-road-fuel accounting study, not a technology or cost dataset — it carries no c/kWh, no equipment CAPEX, no fuel price. Its NI role is strictly the demand-side baseline (litres by sector/sub-sector/end-use), which must be paired with a diesel price and an electrification-efficiency assumption before it drives any cost or SSI cell. The recreational-marine and forestry/mining/construction volumes are outside NI’s remote-community scope and are retained as context only.

Research targets

Partially resolved

  • RT_236 (PARTIAL → this page): The RT sought “~700M/yr agriculture diesel spend + off-road fuel-use breakdown". The **off-road fuel-use breakdown is fully delivered and verified** — 295 M L agriculture off-road diesel with sub-sector splits, sourcing channels and end-use technologies; total off-road diesel 1,065 M L / petrol 445 M L. The **"700M/yr dollar spend” is NOT in this document** — it is a Rewiring Aotearoa derivation (OT_066) from this report’s 295 M L volume × a diesel price. RT_236 therefore stays OPEN on the dollar-spend leg (annotated in place in research_targets.md, not moved to Done): closing it needs an NZ rural/off-road diesel retail price to convert 295 M L → and independently validate Rewiring's ~700M; a post-2019 volume refresh (this report uses 2019 data) would further update the baseline. Both residuals are tracked on RT_236 itself — no new RT spawned.

Notes

Primary EECA research report (Off-Road Liquid Fuel Insights, July 2021, ISBN 978-1-99-115223-7, 49 pp, CC BY 4.0), authored by Andrew Greed & Tyler Byers (EECA) with Aimee Van Barneveld, Bryan Field & Matthew Fanselow (MartinJenkins). Read in full via pdftotext -layout → data_quality: verified; every figure above is traceable to the cited page/table/figure.

⚠ Two source-internal inconsistencies (flagged in claims, not errors of transcription):

  1. Off-road share stated two ways — 26% diesel / 2% petrol (p.4) vs 29% diesel / 14% petrol (pp.9–10). The higher shares include the reclassified recreational-marine and ute/trailer volumes (the 383 M L recreational-marine petrol is exactly the 2%→14% gap); the report does not explicitly reconcile the two, so the reconciliation stated in the claim is inference.
  2. Recreational-marine petrol — 383 M L throughout the body, Figure 3 and Table 2, but “388 million litres” in one Conclusions bullet (p.30). Treated as a typo; 383 M L is the load-bearing figure.

⚠ No dollar figure in this report. The ”~$700M/yr agriculture diesel spend (EECA)” that RT_236 was created to anchor is not stated here — it is a Rewiring Aotearoa (OT_066) derivation from this report’s 295 M L volume leg. Do not cite this report for a dollar spend.

context: ni — the calibration value is the demand-side fuel baseline (litres by sector/sub-sector/end-use); thesis-adjacent decarbonisation framing exists but the RT and the quantitative payload are NI. feeds: [d01_renewable_energy_storage] — the diesel load that on-farm renewable generation/electrification displaces (demand-side baseline, not a calculation input in itself).

Connections

Links to

Sources (3): CR_030 · CR_034 · OT_066

Referenced by

Sources (4): OT_066 · OT_215 · RD_035 · RD_036

EDT domains (2): D01: Renewable Energy & Storage Systems · D02: Smart Food Systems & Agriculture

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