Wind power will become the "new oil" in New Zealand, with smaller and smarter wind turbines countering threats posed by soaring oil prices, wind power specialist Geoff Henderson predicts.
Mr Henderson (49), the Christchurch-based chief executive of Windflow Technology Ltd, will give a keynote address on "Windpower: The New Oil?"at the University of Otago College of Education auditorium in Dunedin at 7.30pm today.
The talk is part of the latest New Zealand International Science Festival.
A senior figure in the United States oil industry, Boone Pickens (80), recently spoke out about his serious concerns for energy security and the rising cost of oil, with the US importing nearly 70% of its needs, at a projected cost of almost $US700 billion ($NZ941 billion) this year.
Mr Pickens urged more rapid development of windpower and said the huge windpower potential of the midsection of the US - from west Texas up to the Canadian border - had resulted in it being dubbed the "Saudi Arabia of the wind".
Mr Henderson commented in an interview that New Zealand's own major wind potential meant that "we're the Kuwait of wind".
One "vision" of wind power being promoted in New Zealand involved large turbines, some standing about 150m tall, and large projects, generating more than 100 megawatts of power.
He advocated small to medium sized turbines and smaller wind farms- producing less than 50 megawatts-as the smart way to meet New Zealand's economic and environmental needs.
Windflow Technology Ltd will manufacture wind turbines standing 46m high to the apex of the blades for a 40-turbine wind farm proposed by Windpower Maungatua for the western slopes of Mt Maungatua, near Dunedin International Airport.
Energy issues will also be highlighted during a science festival discussion involving Energy Minister David Parker and Otago University researchers Associate Prof Bob Lloyd, Prof Philippa Howden-Chapman and Prof Gerry Carrington, at the St David lecture theatre at 5.30pm today.
