The objective of the Energy Research Group, led by Dr Garth Harris, Executive Officer of the NZERDC, was to explore a range of energy choices open to New Zealand and to identify policies that match the choices. The range of choices is broad, both because the national resource base is diverse and because there is plenty of room for improving the efficiency with which we use energy. The trend of recent years has been towards rapid growth in energy use, i.e. a doubling every 15-20 years. But trend is not destiny and the current research shows clearly that our nation's energy future is not compelled to follow a single narrow path