Waimea Weekly Locally Owned and Operated
Wednesday 26 April 2023
Turning our forestry into fuel ANNE HARDIE
Hydrogen produced from the region’s forestry waste could be used to fuel heavy fleets locally and potentially be exported to other regions. Taylors Contracting business development manager David Robinson says about 8,000ha of forest will be harvested within 100km of Nelson in the next five years which will make a lot of residue available that could be used to extract hydrogen. He says the Government is focused on electricity to replace fossil fuel and burning wood solely as a fuel, but other alternatives will still be needed. Apart from the limitations of the national electricity grid, vehicles in more remote locations will not be able to rely on battery-powered vehicles. Until now, most companies seeking to decarbonise fleets of vehicles have focused on battery power, though he says there has been some work done on hydrogen. He wants to see collaboration in the region between companies with fleets of heavy-duty machines such as trucks, bulldozers and construction, to commercialise the production of hydrogen. “Nelson as a community is really good at collaborating with each other. It’s one of our strengths. So, we have an opportunity to get together and work out a solution in this space.” The cost of producing hydrogen is still high, but he says a group of end users collaborating on a project would spread the cost of conversion across a larger group of companies.
SEE PAGE 2
Kim Brice wears Don McLean’s glasses that have been at concerts around the world. Photo: Anne Hardie.
Don McLean’s glasses on a new face ANNE HARDIE Don McLean has likely sung American Pie hundreds of times wearing the glasses that Kim Brice now wears every day. The 77-year-old singer/songwriter is in Nelson for ‘The Day the Music Died’ Tour on 2 May, but Mahana-born Kim will be back in Thailand by then, so will not get to sing along with the crowd. Kim bought two pairs of Don’s glasses at an online auction and had the lenses replaced to suit his own prescription. Now, he has glasses that have toured the world on someone who sang some
of the most famous songs of all time. His penchant for collecting items that tell a story goes back to his childhood, beginning on his very first day at school when the old wind-up clocks were replaced with battery-powered models. He took the old clocks home and so began his ‘museum’. “From that day I became an avid collector, particularly of clocks which I could pull apart.” He now lives in Bangkok - visiting Richmond family and friends every six months - and he is still a collector. He buys collectibles from around the world, keeps what he wants and resells
a lot of it. When two pairs of Don’s glasses came up for sale from the singer’s personal collection, it was too good an opportunity to let slip by. Both were bifocals in acetate frames that he was able to buy for about US$200, which he says is a bargain considering one set was handmade in Italy and were worn by the legendary singer. Kim has collected items from other singers as well, including a train set that belonged to Neil Young’s son and one of Aretha Franklin’s day suits. Don McLean’s concert at the Trafalgar Centre is part of a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of American Pie.
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Lemongrass Richmond
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294 Queen St, Richmond 03-544 4838 www.thelemongrass.co.nz OPEN 7 DAYS: Lunch: Mon-Sun 11.30am - 2.30pm Dinner: 4.30 - 9pm
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