WELLINGTON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's manufacturing industry was the largest user of total energy in the year ended March 2017, accounting for 49 percent of total energy use, compared with 62 percent in 2012, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday.
"The manufacturing industry includes a wide range of sub-industries, such as printing, furniture, and food manufacturing," business performance senior manager Daria Kwon said in a statement.
"We've seen that manufacturing has consistently been the largest user of energy," Kwon said, adding that the transport, postal, and warehousing industry had the largest increase in total energy use.
Meanwhile, diesel was the most-used fuel type in the sector in 2017, accounting for 27 percent of total energy use, Stats NZ said, adding that the industrial and trade sector used 2.3 billion litres of diesel in 2017, up 36 percent from 1.7 billion liters in 2012.
The transport, postal, and warehousing industry accounted for 53 percent, or 1.2 billion liters, of the sector's total diesel use in 2017, it said, adding that the construction industry used 608 million litres of diesel in 2017, accounting for 81 percent of the industry's total energy use, up from 70 percent in 2012.
"Energy use in the construction industry has increased 64 percent since 2009, which is explained by the growth we have seen in construction activities," Kwon said.
Stats NZ's Energy Use Survey collects information on energy use in the primary, industrial and trade, and service sectors, across a three-year cycle, with the industrial and trade sector being the largest user of energy out of the three sectors, typically using more than double the other two sectors combined, the statement said.
