Coal boilers will be removed from schools and hospitals. What about gas?

May 02, 2023

Coal boilers in schools, hospitals and universities will be switched for cleaner energy - but nearly 1000 state-owned organisations remain reliant on other fossil fuels, with no funding from government to transition despite its self-set target looming.

Climate activists 350 Aotearoa say the bulk of those public buildings are powered by fossil (known as natural) gas, releasing nearly 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year – the equivalent of thousands of return flights from Auckland to London.

350 Aotearoa have released a map highlighting which public organisations still need funding to meet the government's target of a carbon neutral state sector by 2025.

The map shows that around 60 fossil-fuel powered hospitals remain unfunded - as do around 600 schools. All of New Zealand's fossil-fuel powered prisons remain unfunded, bar one. Both hospitals and prisons are among the highest-emitters

READ MORE: * Funding boost to help universities, DHBs cut 50,000 tonnes of emissions this decade * $67.4m in Budget to help public sector cut carbon from cars and boilers, but what about flying? * Is your school burning fossil fuels? Even the Government may not know

"We require much bigger investments to replace all fossil fuel boilers in schools, and in the wider state sector," said 350 Aotearoa executive director Alva Feldmeier.

Climate change minister James Shaw announced last week that the government's State Sector Decarbonisation Fund (SSDF) would invest another $78 million into 38 projects before 2025. The $220 million fund was set up to accelerate the reduction of emissions within the public sector, including from fossil gas burners.

Its latest funding round included projects to address heating and cooling, fleet electrification and efficient lighting projects across the country, with $12 million going to the health sector to remove the remaining 14 coal boilers that supply energy to public hospitals.

"The burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – is the primary cause of climate change, while polluting the air, and harming health – so ensuring our places of learning and our hospitals kick this habit is the obvious choice," Shaw said in a press release announcing the funding.

When asked about the large number of gas boilers still in use, Shaw said coal boilers had been the "immediate priority" for the SSDF, as coal was more emissions intensive than other fuels.

He pointed to four hospitals given funding to replace gas boilers in the latest round, including a heat recovery project at Middlemore Hospital, which would significantly reduce their fossil gas demand on boilers.

Shaw said the projects underway were on track to be met by 2025. He didn't specify, however, if the government would meet the 2025 goal.

It's also unclear whether, if elected, the National Party would keep the goal.

National's climate change spokesman Simon Watts said the party was supportive "in principal" of efforts to decarbonise the public sector and to reduce emissions at country level, however that investment needed to be "sensible" he said.

"There is some investment that's occurring that may not deliver significant reductions for the cost. And in this environment we need to be clear on whether we are reducing emissions in a sensible way. We need to be sure there's a return on investment."