Focus Areas and Projects
Energise Ōtaki has identified the following six general areas for action. These are:
- Renewable Energy Generation: Finding ways to produce new clean energy or reduce the environmental impacts of existing energy use
- Energy Use and Energy Conservation: Energy conservation is key to reducing energy use, reducing people’s energy costs and incidences of energy poverty.
- Transport: Fifty-five percent of Ōtaki’s energy use goes on transport fuels. It is perhaps the hardest nut to crack in terms of reducing energy use.
- Education: The premise is that children who understand energy systems, clean generation technologies and the need to reduce energy use will be ambassadors for change in the community.
- Energy Recovery: Stopping potential energy sources being wasted through being thrown out and instead recovering and using that energy is a new and exciting path we are following.
- Energy Monitoring and Research: One of the goals is for Ōtaki to become known as a place where businesses and researchers can go to research energy use, technologies and community processes. We are also trying to monitor and display the energy savings Ōtaki has already achieved.