Identifying renewable resources on iwi land
Victoria University of Wellington Associate Professor Ramesh Rayudu has been working with iwi partners to generate data that could help them develop and effectively use renewable energy-based resources.
The work came after an approach from iwi in Tikorangi Valley, Taupo, Whakatane/Omaio and Great Barrier Island, but it could be picked up by iwi across the country.
Associate Professor Rayudu from the Faculty of Engineering has been working with his colleague Dr Daniel Burmester, and three students, Angus Weich, Daniel Satur, and Jasper Kueppers, to develop a ‘black box’. It will have sensors that collect information such as the number of sun hours each day and how much wind the area is exposed to, to determine what renewable resources are available on the site. Dependent on location, this could be solar power, hydro power, wind turbines, or a combination.
The black box will also measure agriculture data such as soil temperature and moisture which will help determine what is the best use of that area, such as plant a specific fruit or vegetable that would thrive in that environment.
“The iwi approached us and asked if we could have a look at the possibility of self-sufficiency for their iwi,” Associate Professor Rayudu says. “This project will provide them with solutions and technology.
“Some of the locations didn’t have any data of their land. The iwi at Omaio was getting their data from Tauranga – which is almost 190 kilometres away. We wanted to provide them with localised information that would be beneficial for them,” he says.
Associate Professor Rayudu expects the black box prototype to be ready early next year and then the first box will be installed.
Once a black box has been successfully developed, the team plans to create multiple black boxes and disseminate them to other iwi across New Zealand in the next five years.
“While the primary interest of this project is in renewable energy and looking at what we can do to be self-sufficient, the black box will also provide intelligent information about cultural land.
“The black box can be used anywhere to identify renewable resources. Especially anyone with agricultural land wanting to find out about the sun hours, what kind of wind speeds and directions they are exposed to.
“The great thing about it is that you can just install it and the readings are transferred through wireless technology. You can just set it and forget about it,” says Dr Rayudu.