Welcome to the BANZ Website

The Association

Who are BANZ?

Veins on a leafThe Bioenergy Association of New Zealand (BANZ) has been established to promote and coordinate the development of a bioenergy industry in New Zealand. BANZ provides a central focus point for liaison with Government agencies, the dissemination of information amongst the industry and long-term positioning of bioenergy into New Zealand's energy system.

Members include anyone with a commercial interest in bioenergy - sawmillers, wood processors, energy suppliers, energy researchers, consultants, manufacturers and investors.

What's New

April 2008
Banz establishes a Wood Pellets interest group
 Click here to view press release
Februay 2008
Scotland's Renewable Heat Strategy: Recommendations to Scottish Ministers - Renewable Heat Group (RHG) Report
Click here to view report.
January 2008
House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee - Are biofuels sustainable?
Click here to view report
September 2007
Renewable Heat Initial Business Case report - UK's DEFRA/BERR
Click here to view report
January 2005
Promoting and Accelerating the Market Penetration of Biomass Technology in Scotland.
Click here to view report

Forthcoming Events

BANZ 2008 Events - Advance Notice

Thursday 10th July 2008, 9am to 4pm
New Zealand Biogas workshop to be held at the Waikato University Campus.
Click here to view programme
Thursday 26th June 2008
 Wood Residues Trading – the potential in NZ to be held in Rotorua -
(note - holding the event will depend on getting residues and wood pellet classification completed and trading platform established) Further details to come
Later this year
Two Small Wellington Events (2 hour sessions)
Use of pellets in commercial / institutional applications
Further details to come
Conversion of hospital boilers from coal to biomass
Further details to come

Current Activities

Technical Standards:
The BANZ Executive Officer is on the joint New Zealand/Australian Standards Committee so if you have technical matters relating to standards contact him.

Development of a Wood Pellet Fire Installer Training and Accreditation Scheme:
This is an industry funder initiative and will be delivered by two of New Zealand's leading Polytechs.

Planning for the 2008 Wood Pellet Workshop:
We are in the process of securing speakers. More details to come

If you would like further information on these items or if there are issues that you would like to suggest as areas of future focus - please contact Connie Crookshanks.

Recent Events

12th March 2008, Auckland
FIDAProgrammes and Massey University BioChar & Pyrolysis Workshops
Held at Gateway Hotel, 206 Kirkbride Road, Auckland Airport. Conference proceedings and Presentations available here.
13 February 2008
Workshop: Biomass Gasification Technology and Biomass Energy
Wednesday 13 February, Room F3, Forestry School, University of Canterbury, Forestry Road, Christchurch. Conference Proceedings and Presentations available here
15 November 2007:
Forest Residues Workshop
Thursday 15 November, 'The Economics of Forest Residue as an Energy Source' and 'The Direct Use of Biomass for Heat Production'.
Presentations from the workshop are available here

Mission and Vision

What is BANZ trying to achieve?

The mission of BANZ is to:

  • Autumn red and gold forest with hazeEncourage the utilisation of New Zealand's abundant biomass resources and provide renewable energy in the form of heat, power and transport fuels in a sustainable and cost effective manner.
  • Promote to the wider community the environmental benefits of Bioenergy including greenhouse gas mitigation and waste avoidance.
  • To facilitate implementation of commercial bioenergy projects

The BANZ vision is that annual bioenergy production from woody biomass will double to 50 PJ by the year 2010.

Recent Articles

Keep yourself informed through BANZ

Wood PelletsHere are a few selected topical articles from the website that may be of interest:

Bioenergy Articles of Interest

"Burning Money" - Consumer Magazine article on compressed fire logs. Published April 2007, PDF (565kb)

"Green Heat" - Consumer Magazine article on wood pellets and burners. Published March 2007, PDF (496kb)

"Firewood" - Consumer Magazine article on when to buy and how to store firewood. Published March 2007, PDF (113kb)

"What's the importance of cogeneration?" by Eckhard Schulz, April 2006, PDF (87kb)

Are biofuels sustainable? draft response to the UK Environmental Audit Committee call for evidence, September 2007

BANZ Submissions

View the BANZ submission on the New Zealand Energy Strategy (NZES) 2007 and New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (NEECS) 2007, PDF (83kb)

Current Bioenergy related Consultations

Regulating biofuel quality – discussion document released - A discussion document proposing specifications for biofuel quality and requirements for labelling biofuels has been released for public consultation. It is important biofuels and biofuel blends are of the appropriate quality to ensure compatibility with New Zealand 's vehicle fleet. Submissions are due by November 9th 2007. This discussion document can be found here.

To identify good-quality biofuels before comprehensive specifications are introduced in regulations, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) have developed a biofuels label. This label can only be used by retailers and suppliers meeting quality standards. For more information on the EECA biofuels label, visit the EECA website .