The Carbon Tracker gives you up-to-date data about the level of carbon emissions from the electricity generation across New Zealand, throughout the day. Carbon emissions are the emissions of carbon dioxide or CO2. Carbon dioxide emissions are the main driver of global warming and climate change (Source: 

With the Carbon Tracker you’ll be able to get a better understanding the times of day when carbon emissions are high (or low) and how to best reduce your carbon impact.

You can find the new Carbon Tracker in the ‘Usage & Rates’ section of the 

 which is optimised for mobile and desktop devices.

If you want to take an active approach to reducing the carbon impact of your electricity use, then the Carbon Tracker is for you. 

You can use the Carbon Tracker to understand whether the level of carbon emissions from recent electricity generation is 

. If reducing your carbon impact is important to you, you can use this data to shift electricity usage to times of day when the carbon emissions are low or medium.

We all need electricity throughout the day, and reducing usage isn’t always practical. Everyone likes dinner on the table at a reasonable time! However, depending on your circumstances, there could be electricity use you could shift to another time of day with a bit of planning or creativity.

Examples of electricity usage you could shift include, when you do your laundry, charging your EV, and heating and cooling your home. 

What do the levels in the Carbon Tracker mean?

By engaging with the Carbon Tracker you can make small changes to your household usage, if that’s practical for you, to reduce the amount of electricity you use when carbon emissions are high.

Our Carbon Tracker is split into three levels to indicate the amount of carbon emissions at a given time:

In New Zealand, we are fortunate to have an abundance of renewable sources that generate most of our electricity. Over 2022,

 87% of electricity generated came from renewable sources

. The main renewable sources include geothermal, hydro and wind. That means when carbon emissions are considered high at any given time, up to 70% is still renewable due to geography, resources and weather conditions.

Once using the Carbon Tracker, you may spot patterns in the day that help you shift your usage, habitually. 

Generally, our pricing structure also reflects this change in carbon emissions throughout the day with our Time of Use pricing: 

So you are often paying less when emissions are low.

How are the carbon emissions calculated in the Carbon Tracker?

The Carbon Tracker provides market data from the 

 provided by Energy Market Services (EMS) up to the last half hour. The em6 is New Zealand’s electricity data hub that provides access to market data, including generation and carbon emissions indicators. It is considered the go-to resource for generation data in New Zealand.

Our Carbon Tracker is another way Octopus Energy is making it easy for customers to access affordable power as we transition to a clean energy future.

Our new Carbon Tracker

Who are BlackRock and why are they investing 2 billion in New Zealand’s electricity infrastructure?

The energy transition is all about eliminating CO

and other greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, like petrol, coal and gas by switching to lower carbon sources like electricity or possibly hydrogen

Fossil fuels release large amounts of carbon dioxide and, as we’ve seen over the past few years, they’re dependent on international supply chains at the whim of geopolitical risk which makes them increasingly expensive and harder to obtain.

We need to build new electricity infrastructure to support increasing demand, this chart from Transpower illustrates the level of demand growth expected by 2050. In parallel new sources of demand like EVs can be used flexibly and more smartly (i.e avoiding charging them at peak when) to get more out of the infrastructure we have.

That said, we have a lot of new energy infrastructure to build… EV chargers…local network system upgrades…new generation farms…a national grid with capacity to carry more electricity to and from more places. This all requires money to catalyse the building. Boston Consulting Group wrote a report detailing that $42 billion of investment  would be required over the next decade.

BlackRock announced the launch of a fund raise for a $2 billion fund dedicated to ramping up investments in wind and solar generation, as well as battery storage and green hydrogen in New Zealand.

BlackRock is a massive investment house. They essentially take people’s money and invest it in businesses for a return. BlackRock invests in all types of companies, including fossil fuel companies.

BlackRock has already invested in New Zealand companies by purchasing shares in them or providing them loans, this includes energy sector companies: SolarZero and Contact Energy.

Fundraising is simply putting the call out for other individuals and investors to put their money into a bucket that Blackrock will then use to invest in renewable energy investments in New Zealand.

Apparently the NZ government provided feedback about its policy settings and the type of investments that would be necessary to reach a 100% renewable electricity grid. 

However, it will not directly contribute any money into the fund, which BlackRock is raising itself. 

More money dedicated to decarbonisation is a good thing, but there is a bit of a process for BlackRock to go through in order to raise the funds and then find good opportunities to invest in. By good it will mean projects with a reasonable financial return.

BlackRock, the Government and New Zealand (as a place for renewable investment) had a balmy day in the media sun….. let’s hope it translates to more solar panels, EV chargers and wind turbines more quickly.

What's the big idea BlackRock?

Heating accounts for over 35% of most winter power bills, so choosing the best option to heat your home makes a big difference. Over 25% (or 40% according to GenLess) of all New Zealand households now have heat pumps as a cost-effective alternative to traditional electric heating, gas, coal, oil or wood.

They keep your home warm and dry by moving heat 

, extracting warmth from outside and transferring it inside. When it's warm outside a heat pump can work in reverse as an air conditioner. They usually take 10 to 20 minutes to bring a room to the desired temperature, and maintain it easily.

If you already have a heat pump we’ve got some pro tips to use it efficiently during winter, and if you're thinking about buying one, we cover some of the things to look for.

Just like cleaning the filter in your dishwasher or washing machine, cleaning the filter in your heat pump can make it run more efficiently. 

Clean both the indoor and outdoor heat pump filters regularly — at least once a year. It's simple and quick to do this yourself unless the outside unit is difficult to get to. The best time is when you head into the cold season, and ideally check the filters once a month during winter. You can always clean them more frequently if they're particularly dirty.

There’s a balance to keeping warm and dry without churning through electricity and money. Find the middle point to help with both. 

Set your heat pump temperature to 18ºC degrees or above to prevent damp and mould, but below 21ºC degrees to save on power. The higher the temperature, the more energy the heat pump will use, so somewhere  between 18ºC and 21ºC is the sweet spot.

Don't set your heat pump to the maximum — it won't heat the room any quicker, but it will use more energy.

 is 18ºC or 20ºC for children or the elderly, and 16ºC for bedrooms overnight.

Spending more time in the space your heat pump is warming will make the most of the energy you're using, usually that's in the living room, with the couch, TV, and Xbox.

It might sound obvious, but heat pumps use the most energy when they're heating a room up to a set temperature. Once it’s warm they only need to make small adjustments to keep it cosy. If your heat pump is mounted on the wall, close the doors to rooms you’re not using so they're not stealing any warmth.

A lot of people believe a heat pump running 24/7 is the most efficient, cost-effective way to heat their home. Not true because you're using and losing more energy overall. It's better to only run your heat pump when you're home. It will also save you money.

There's nothing like arriving home, or waking up to a nice, warm home in winter. 

If your heat pump has a timer, you can set it to turn on just before you get home or before you wake up in the morning. Doing that also means you'll be less tempted to crank the heat pump at a high temperature when you get home to a cold house, or wake up in one.

. If you switch on your heat pump before 7am you'll be taking advantage of our most economic rate.

Use the timer function to heat the space 15 minutes before you use it, or invest in a Smart WiFi controlled heat pump so you can control it remotely using an App on your Smartphone.

If your home is properly insulated, your heat pump won't have to work as hard and you won’t pay as much in bills each month. Check that the insulation in your home is up to scratch and if not, it’s a good idea to add extra.

You can stay even cosier by installing thermal curtains which keep more heat in the room, or by putting draft stoppers at the bottom of your doors to minimise any heat that might escape through the cracks.

The better insulated your home, the better it will hold the heat and the more energy efficient the heat pump will be.

Tips for choosing the right heat pump for your home

When it comes to choosing your heat pump, it's important to consider things like the size of the space you want to heat, the type of heat pump you want, and how efficient it is.

There are a few different types of heat pump to choose from, depending on your needs.

It's well worth doing a bit of research into the different types of heat pumps, how they work, and what they look like, to see what might be best for you. Heat pump suppliers should also be able to give you good advice on what could work well for your home.

The most common heat pump in New Zealand, with one outdoor unit connected to an indoor unit that heats the room it’s installed in. Single-split systems are pretty easy to have installed and they're also cost-effective.

Multi-split systems connect one outdoor unit to multiple indoor units to heat different rooms in your home. These systems are good for larger homes requiring several indoor units without multiple units outside. With both single and multi-split systems, you can choose a floor console, ceiling console, ceiling cassette, or high-wall unit.

Another type of heat pump is a ducted heat pump, which works a little differently. They’re a type of central heating system that blows heated air through concealed ducts into multiple rooms in your home. They can be more expensive than the other options, but will heat your whole house, and are well hidden, so they’re a good option for people who don't like the look of a heat pump unit.

Heat pumps are the most efficient way of using electricity to heat your home, but some models are more efficient than others. To help you out the GenLess Efficient Appliance Calculator lets you filter and compare heat pumps being sold in New Zealand. 

You can find the type of heat pump that meets your needs, and compare the different models based on their energy efficiency rating.

It's important to know that one size does not fit all. Choosing the right model for your space, using it correctly and regular maintenance save on those winter power bills for years to come.

If you’re looking at buying a heat pump, it’s important to choose the right-sized heat pump for the space you want to heat. If it’s too small, it’ll struggle to heat the room. If it’s too big, you’ll pay more than you need to. 

A good heat pump supplier should be able to come to your place and assess how big the space is, how many windows there are, and the climate you live in, then give you advice that’s tailored to your home.

What's the big idea BlackRock?

Who are BlackRock?

What does raising a fund mean?

What is the Government’s involvement?

How will this impact the market?

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