Queenstown's historic steamship that graces Lake Wakatipu is looking to go green after puffing coal for nearly 110 years.
But what are the alternatives for local icon TSS Earnslaw?
The steamer, also known to many as the grand old "Lady of the Lake", is a much-loved treasure in tourist mecca, chugging along the town’s lake for more than a century.
But now the vessel’s navigating different waters - it’s out with the coal and in with a new fuel source.
“We want to make sure that the Earnslaw can continue to be one of the world's most extraordinary experiences, but in a way that's better for the environment,” said RealNZ Chief Executive Stephen England-Hall.
A feasibility study into greener options is being considered for the 109-year-old passenger steamer.
Stephen England-Hall said after 109 years of breathing coal, the Earnslaw needs "a new set of lungs".
“The boilers in this old girl do need to be replaced," England-Hall said.
"we want to take the opportunity to see if we could replace those boilers with technology that was zero emission.”
A recent report by the Otago Regional Council found the vessel makes up one per cent of Queenstown's transport emissions.
There are a range of different options on the table to make the ship either carbon neutral or carbon zero. Everything from wood pellets and biofuel right through to fully electric.
Hydrogen is an alternative too, with the owners learning more in Christchurch.
RealNZ Head of Assets and the man leading the decarbonation team, Chris Fleck said, “Over the next six months, we intend [to] looking at a range of options and we'll look at the feasibility of each of those options.”
He said, “each option has a number of elements that we need to check around the ability to supply what the integration into the vessel looks like.”
England-Hall told 1News “the reality is coal may not be around as a source of fuel in the future and we want to make sure that this boat can continue to be a part of the story of Queenstown.”
A delicate balance between old and new technology. 1News asked locals on the street what they thought of the proposal.
One woman said “I think that's the way things are going to go.. but I think you would lose the originality of the old steam ship really and it's quite authentic, and it's original and it's a part of what we are down here.”
Another person said “obviously that's what everyone's having to think about. Going green and keeping it pure.”
England-Hall said it was also about making sure the TSS Earnslaw is around for the future and conserving the essence of what it is for future generations, while also trying to retain as much heritage as is possible.
So this Lady of the Lake can survive as a tourism attraction for another 100 years.
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