Nature's Flame awarded New Zealand "Low Carbon Future Award"

19.05.2021

Nature’s Flame receives prestigious recognition at New Zealand’s 2021 Energy Excellence Awards.

Representatives from Nature's Flame and Fonterra receiving the award.

New Zealand’s Energy Excellence Awards were held in Wellington on the 5 May  with Nature’s Flame and Fonterra jointly being selected as finalists and then overall winners of the ‘Low Carbon Future Award’ category.  

"The public recognition through this award is a great result and a proud moment for the Nature’s Flame and Fonterra teams", says Rod Bender, VP Renewables and Business Development.  ​​​​​​​

The award was judged on the collaboration between Nature’s Flame and Fonterra after the companies worked together to significantly reduce carbon emissions.  A key part of the collaboration was Fonterra’s investment to convert their Te Awamutu boiler from burning coal to instead use renewable and sustainable wood pellets.  This environmentally friendly conversion was only made possible after Nature’s Flame’s successful capacity upgrade.  This allowed Nature’s Flame to utilise waste geothermal energy in the Taupo district, adding another great environmental aspect to the upgrade.  As a result of Fonterra’s Te Awamutu boiler conversion to wood pellets, Fonterra’s total coal usage in New Zealand  was reduced by about 10%, eliminating 84,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year, which is the equivalent of removing over 32,000 cars off New Zealand’s roads. This represents an important part of Fonterra’s goal of reducing their carbon emissions by 30% by 2030.