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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
CANA activist Cindy Baxter PHOTO JAIME PITT-MACKAY 210117-JP-0192
Call for Fonterra to stop using coal BY MICHELLE NELSON
MICHELLE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
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Environmental activists gathered in Ashburton at the weekend to take a stand against the use of coal in the dairy industry. Based at the Tinwald Domain, Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) held its annual Summerfest under the title Coal, Cows and Climate. Speakers addressed about 50 environmentalists from around New Zealand on Saturday afternoon. Former Green Party co-leader and CANA member Jeanette Fitzsimons said Ashburton was chosen for the meeting as it was at the heart of Fonterra’s dairying operation. Fonterra is the country’s second largest user of coal, having overtaken the Huntly Power Station, and the dairy
co-operative still has plans to expand, Fitzsimons said. Fonterra requires vast amounts of energy to convert liquid milk into milk solids, and its consumption has been growing in the face of plans to phase out national use of the “dirty” fuel by 2027. Fitzsimmons said the link between the use of coal and global warming is irrefutable, in particular lignite (brown) coal. “Up to 80 per cent of the coal used by Fonterra is lignite – which is the lowest grade, wettest, nastiest coal there is,” she said. While steel manufacturing has little choice but to use coal at this point, there are options for the dairy industry. Fitzsimons said developing technology had proved waste wood from forestry residues were an effective alternative to coal fired boilers.
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“Fonterra’s bottom line is that Fonterra needs to keep expanding – our bottom line is that we need to protect the planet for our grandchildren,” she said. CANA activist Cindy Baxter, who also addressed the gathering, said 2016 was the hottest year on record – a trend observed for the third consecutive year. With 97 per cent consensus that climate change was occurring, the naysayers were losing the battle, she said. Signatories to the United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change, which includes New Zealand, agreed to limit warming to below 2°C and aiming for 1.5°C.
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