Singapore sets aside S$170m for clean energy research

Channel NewsAsia 6 Nov 07;

SINGAPORE : Singapore has set aside S$170 million for research into clean energy.

Industry players are discussing various alternative energy sources at Carbon Forum Asia.

Carbon trading is also high on the agenda.

Singapore is investing in energy research, with the aim of encouraging more firms and organisations to use renewable energies and environmentally-friendly technologies.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said, "The National Research Foundation has set aside some S$170m for research into clean energy. This will provide funding support for world-class R&D centres, and offer Singapore as a global test-bed and site for early adoption."

The growth in technological know-how will also allow more local companies to embark on emissions trading and pollution-reducing projects.

Under the United Nations climate change treaty, countries which are not able to meet their carbon emission targets can buy credits from others who do.

The carbon trading market is estimated to double this year to US$60 billion.

Yvo De Boer, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said, "It's a very rapidly growing market; at the moment or rather last year it was already worth 30 billion dollars. Some people are saying that it could be worth as much as 60 billion dollars this year. And I would expect that as the action on climate change develops, as we develop the post-2012 climate change regime, the market will grow even more significantly and play an ever growing role. "

Some companies in Singapore are already actively participating in this growing market.

David Leong, Executive Chairman, Aretae, said, "I think Singapore is very well positioned to be in the emissions trading market and also in the project development market because we are actually in the middle of China and India, which is the biggest, two biggest producers of carbon credits today. And we also have the ASEAN region which has a lot of opportunities to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and industry itself."

Some 1,000 participants are attending the The Carbon Forum Asia which ends on Wednesday.