Waikato regional economic profile - Waikato Regional Council

Figure 58: International arrivals to Hamilton by trip purpose (2011)Hamilton International Airport is also home to CTC Wings, a British flight trainingorganisation. Training aircraft make up a significant proportion of total aircraftmovements.The Hamilton International Airport runway is 2,195 metres long. In 2011, HamiltonInternational Airport received approvals and recommendations to extend the mainrunway to just short of 3,000 metres. There is no immediate timetable for an extensionand the runway extension would only proceed when a business case exists. Thisapproval is currently subject to appeals submitted to the Environment Court.4.3 EnergyThe National Infrastructure Plan (2011) focuses on the infrastructure required toextract, generate, store and distribute energy. Electricity, oil and gas are addressedseparately as each has its own infrastructure network.The key issues the National Infrastructure Plan identified for the energy sector werethat:the market framework does not always ensure that the projects of most value tothe overall energy network are completed first;New Zealand’s energy mix will need to change over the next 20 to 40 years, inpart because of resilience issues. 147Energy use is measured in terajoules (heat equivalents). 148 Figure 59 shows the 10industries that used the most energy in the region in the year ending March 2004, bythe main types of energy. For the purposes of reporting, these energy types have beenaggregated into four categories: fossil fuels; electricity; wood/black liquor 149 ;geothermal. 150It is estimated that a total of 36,546 terajoules of energy were consumed by theWaikato economy to the year ending March 2004. Two thirds (66.3 per cent) of thisenergy was consumed as fossil fuels. Electricity accounted for 19.9 per cent of energyconsumed and wood/black liquor accounted for a relatively smaller share (13.7 percent). Geothermal energy comprised less than one per cent of all energy consumed. 151147New Zealand Government (2011d, p. 33).148Market Economics Ltd (2006b, p. 12). The terajoule is equal to one trillion joules. The joule is a derived unit ofenergy, work, or amount of heat. It is equal to the energy expended (or work done) in applying a force of onenewton through a distance of one metre, or in passing an electric current of one ampere through a resistance of oneohm for one second.149Black liquor is the spent cooking liquor from the kraft process when digesting pulpwood into paper pulp removinglignin, hemicelluloses and other extractives from the wood to free the cellulose fibres.150 Market Economics Ltd (2006b, p. 12) It is important to note that the energy accounts do not include electricityproduction i.e. as undertaken by the region’s hydro, geothermal and thermal power stations.151Market Economics Ltd (2006b, p. 12).Page 54 Doc #: 2069885