Residential customers made up the largest number of gas users, despite using only a small percentage of the country's gas supplies. Photo: 123RF
Gas company Clarus has removed an advertisement which said renewable gas was flowing in its pipelines after complaints about greenwashing.
The advertisement, which appeared on Stuff and the New Zealand Herald, showed a photo of a family in a kitchen making pancakes above the text: "Renewable gas now flowing - Enjoy all the same benefits of gas with renewable gas."
Complainants told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) the ad deceived the public into thinking they were buying renewable gas, when only only a small proportion was biomethane from a composting plant and the majority was fossil fuel gas, a potent climate warmer.
The ASA ruled the complaint was settled after Clarus voluntarily withdrew the ad.
RNZ has approached Clarus for comment.
A facility at Reporoa produces methane from food scraps and other organic waste and supplies it to Clarus' gas pipeline network, where it is blended with fossil fuel gas and supplied to households.
One of the complainants, 350 Aotearoa climate campaigner Adam Currie, said the ad was "classic greenwashing".
"For the foreseeable future, any biomethane produced at the Reporoa facility will make up a tiny fraction of Clarus' gas supply. In addition, all of this biomethane is blended with regular fossil gas - it is no way renewable… yet their marketing leads consumers to believe they are buying a fully renewable product."
Residential customers made up the largest number of gas users, despite using only a small percentage of the country's gas supplies.
Consumer NZ has warned that gas supply to residential homes was in a "death spiral" as gas prices rose and supplies dwindled - even as developers continued connecting newly built homes to the network.
A Gas Transition Plan issues paper written by energy officials said biomethane blending could provide a low-emissions option and boost supply for consumers who were willing to pay a premium in order to continue using pipeline gas, but concluded it was unlikely to win out in the long-term over the cheaper option of electrification.
However the gas industry said the biomethane market could develop. It encouraged people to keep connecting to avoid its pipelines becoming obsolete.
Landfills already produced biomethane when organic waste breaks down, much of which was flared or wasted, and the industry said this could be used to replace at least some fossil gas.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
