Singapore taps international experts to achieve sustainable development

Channel NewsAsia 23 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE : Singapore will draw ideas from a panel of international experts on sustainable development.

And more incentives could be offered to get the building industry to go green.

Speaking at the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) 's first "Breakfast Talk for CEOs", National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said this is also a good time for the industry to look at alternative materials and methods in view of rising costs."

The BCA has roped in experts to help spur the green movement in Singapore.

Kevin Hydes, Chairman, World Green Building Council, said: "There's almost no cost to going green. In fact there's significant increase in asset value, increase in brand identity for green development. Once the industry learns the new methods and the technologies are purchased in greater volumes, the price comes down."

During the event, industry players heard what European countries and the US are doing to encourage the adoption of green building techniques.

These include tax reliefs, utilities rebates and changes to the legislation.

In Singapore, close to 100 environmentally-friendly buildings have been certified, with another 200 projects awaiting assessment.

Liew Mun Leong, CEO, CapitaLand Group, said: "Even now investors are asking you if you are a green building developer. In fact my institutional investors often ask me, how good are you in green buildings? And this has to cascade down to the types of contractors we use, we also now use green contractors."

But industry players say there are still challenges ahead.

Chia Ngiang Hong, Group General Manager, City Developments Limited, said: "It's the change of mindset at the moment, the acceptance level in Singapore is not very high yet, and the buy-in process is important."

One suggestion is to offer more incentives but that is not the only way to go.

Mr Mah said: "We need to educate consumers, we need to bring households on board. And we need to see whether there's need for legislation. By the next budget we hope to have in place a whole series of different measures, which may or may not include incentives."

Currently, the BCA also gives out the Green Mark Awards to building projects which are environmentally friendly.

And going forward, more new awards will be presented to developers, consultants and contractors who are supportive of the green building movement.

Mr Mah also commented on other issues.

On the rising construction costs, he said there are ways to manage the surge in demand.

For instance, the government, on its part, will postpone S$3 billion worth of projects.

This will help reduce manpower requirements by over 10 percent, including foreign workers, technical and supervisory staff.

And to address the crunch in office space, the government has announced that some of its agencies will be relocating outside the city by early 2009.

Mr Mah said the National Development Ministry, which is situated at Maxwell Road, will also be moving out over time.

Responding to HDB's recent Build-To-Order exercise which saw over 9,000 applications for 278 flats, Mr Mah assured young couples that there are enough flats to go around.

He also advised home buyers to be prudent with their purchase and not spend beyond their means. - CNA/ch

More carrots likely to build green buildings
Panel looking into further measures. Spiralling costs a challenge and opportunity for builders to go greener
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 24 Feb 08;

THE Government is looking into further incentives and legislation to 'green' more buildings here.

This is integral to Singapore's sustainable development strategy, which remains a key priority, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.

Meanwhile, spiralling construction costs present both a challenge and an opportunity for the building sector to go greener, with alternative methods of construction which are energy- and resource-efficient.

Mr Mah was speaking at an inaugural talk, attended by building sector bigwigs, on green building and corporate social responsibility.

The talk was organised by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Its preliminary estimates show that a basic Green Mark building costs about 0.3 per cent to 1 per cent more, with a payback of two to five years.

But the benefits go beyond the savings, over the whole lifespan of the building, Mr Mah said.

Green buildings are generally designed, built and maintained for energy efficiency and are better for human health and the environment.

The BCA Green Mark rates buildings for their environmental performance.

Some Green Mark buildings include the National Library and City Developments' Oceanfront@Sentosa Cove, both of which have features such as energy-efficient air-conditioners, efficient lighting and extensive greenery to keep the buildings cool.

Mr Mah called on the 'private, people and public sectors' to work together.

Several incentives are already in place, and a new inter-ministerial committee - co-chaired by Mr Mah and Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim - is looking into further measures.

Mr Mah said incentives alone will not solve the problem. 'There is a need for us to take stock and spend some time on this. By the next Budget, I hope to have in place a whole road map.'

Property chiefs such as CapitaLand's Mr Liew Mun Leong and City Developments' group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong affirmed yesterday that going into green projects not only saved them money but has also improved their brand names.

Mr Liew called for more incentives, such as granting additional gross floor area for a green building.

Meanwhile, Mr Mah said the postponement of up to $3 billion in public projects is expected to ease the industry's manpower crunch by at least 10 per cent.

A BCA spokesman told The Sunday Times yesterday the projects to be deferred to after next year included student hostels, school upgrading, hawker centres and some minor projects.

Related articles

Singapore should mull carbon tax: World Green Building Council
Uma Shankari, Business Times 23 Feb 08;

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Prices of some vegetables have doubled in the past weeks

Channel NewsAsia 23 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE : Prices of some vegetables have almost doubled in recent weeks.

Importers say this is due to the extreme weather in southern China, which had affected supply of the greens.

The problem is further compounded by the surge in demand for vegetables over the Chinese New Year period.

This saw a reduction in exports to Singapore, and importers had difficulties having their orders fulfilled.

Over the past weeks, only three out of an order of ten containers have been delivered and this shortage has driven up prices.

For instance, a kilogramme of kai lan and chye sim went up by about two dollars to five dollars.

But importers expect prices to soften once more supplies start arriving from southern China next week.

And it will complement stocks from Malaysia and northern China, which remain unaffected. - CNA/ch

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Jakarta hit by scheduled blackouts to save power

Adhityani Arga, Reuters 23 Feb 08;

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Jakarta's commercial and residential districts were hit by scheduled power cuts for several hours on Saturday as part of a desperate attempt by Indonesia's state electricity firm to save dwindling supplies.

Java, Indonesia's most heavily populated island, and Bali, the neighboring resort island, were hit by serious outages last week as bad weather hampered coal deliveries and left two big power plants on Java with only enough coal stocks to last a day or so.

Officials warned further outages were likely over the next week if the power plants could not obtain supplies.

PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the state electricity company, said commercial districts in central and southern Jakarta and some residential suburbs were scheduled for four-hour power cuts.

Certain areas were switched off in the morning, while others were hit in the afternoon.

"This has been announced before and is done to save power," Lia Dahlia, an official at PLN's Jakarta information centre, told Reuters.

A PLN spokesman told Reuters the electricity company had enough power to supply the Java-Bali grid over the weekend provided there were scheduled cuts, but the main concern was whether enough coal could be delivered next week to prevent further outages.

"There is enough power for the weekend, but we'll need to get coal shipments to arrive this weekend to secure next week's supply," PLN's Mulyo Adji told Reuters.

"Let's hope the weather improves over the weekend," he added, as that would enable ships to unload the coal safely.

Indonesia's power sector has been beset by problems because of its ageing plants, high costs and low funds as most tariffs are highly subsidized and still among the lowest in the world.

Officials say electricity demand is growing around 10 percent a year, outstripping power supply in a country of 226 million, while investment in generating plants and transmission lines has been inadequate. (Editing by Sara Webb and Jerry Norton)

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Law to get rid of ‘ghost traps’ paying off

Marty Schladen, The Daily News, Galveston County 23 Feb 08;

State officials are reporting excellent results six years into a program to cut down on marine life needlessly killed in abandoned crab traps.

That’s demonstrated by a radical drop in the number of rogue traps that volunteers and state workers are finding these days as they go out and collect them.

Through today, the Texas crab fishery is closed. For the past week, workers and volunteers have been removing traps left in the water during the closure.

Anybody with a fishing license can go to Academy, buy a crab trap, bait it and drop it in Galveston Bay. But if you don’t regularly check it, it can cause serious environmental harm.

Called “ghost traps” they attract crabs and other animals. As they die, the first to be trapped attract still more animals. The cycle repeats.

“It’s not just crabs that die,” said John Embesi, a marine biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Artificial Reef program.

River otter, diamondback terrapin, musk turtle and black drum have all been found in abandoned traps.

As marine animals die in the traps, they lose their ability to create offspring.

A single trap found in 2004 in Corpus Christi Bay contained nine sheepshead, seven Gulf toadfish, six gray snapper, four black drum and three Atlantic spadefish.

And while that trap came out of Corpus Christi Bay, the biggest source of the abandoned traps has been Galveston Bay. Through last year, 42 percent of all the abandoned crab traps found in Texas came from there, according to state figures.

The number of traps collected each year has declined since the program was created by a state law that was passed in 2002.

That year, 8,070 traps were collected. That number had fallen to 1,922 by 2006, the last year for which numbers were available.

But as they worked underneath the Tiki Island causeway last week, loading more than 50 abandoned traps into state trucks, Parks and Wildlife technicians Brad Grimmett and Brian Witt said the numbers have continued to drop. They said the law required that the traps they were hauling off be destroyed.

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Be the Singapore delegate to the UN Commission of Sustainable Development

email from Wilson Ang of Eco-Singapore

Invitation to Participate in Essay Contest: Delegation Selection for United Nation Commission of Sustainable Development(CSD)

Dear All,

ECO Singapore & UNYAS will be sending an official team for the coming United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) -16 at Manhattan, New York from 5th – 16th May 2008.

Interested youth, aged 17 to 25, are invited to write an original essay based on the topics given as the first phase of the selection process. Two selected candidates will each receive up to 85% subsidies for their air fare and accommodations.

more detail on eco-singapore facebook

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Best of our wild blogs: 23 Feb 08

Fishing on Sekudu
issues and thoughts on the budak blog

Crab rescue!
help for a rare species only found in Singapore on the johora singaporensis blog

Slow on Sentosa
a day of snails and land hermits on the wildfilms blog

Can Japan Convince International Community to Support “Sustainable” Whaling? on the Worldwatch Institute

Breeding kings
fascinating account of breeding kingfishers on the bird ecology blog

Read more!

Singapore green champions won't let earth go to waste

Environment group runs eco-friendly projects in schools, offices, supermarts

Jessica Jaganathan, Straits Times 23 Feb 08;

MOST people break into a sweat when they see their profits dipping. But for the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), this was good news.

On Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) Days, which now occur once a month, shoppers are charged 10 cents for every plastic bag they use. The money goes to the environmental group to fund its projects.

However, proceeds began to dip recently.

When the campaign was launched in April last year, BYOB Days brought in about $20,000 a month. This fell to about $10,000 by the end of the year.

The slump was viewed as a silver lining by SEC's project executive Joe Lim.

'Either people are becoming more aware, or they are avoiding going to the supermarket on that day,' said Mr Lim, 33. 'Let's be optimistic and think that the environmental message is getting through.'

BYOB Day was organised by the SEC and the National Environment Agency (NEA) in partnership with retailers. But it is limited to the first Wednesday of each month.

'We had been negotiating for the past five years before the supermarkets agreed on the campaign,' said Mr Lim. The environmental charity is currently in talks with supermarkets to either push BYOB Day to a weekend or extend it to two days a month.

BYOB Day is just one of more than 10 projects organised by the SEC.

Established in 1995, the council initially aimed to be just an umbrella organisation for all green groups.

But over time, it has evolved into an active group advocating the protection of the environment.

Its eight employees work towards this by organising exhibitions and activities throughout the year. Most of these are targeted at schools and companies.

For instance, its Project Eco-office, a joint initiative with City Developments, involves distributing materials to workplaces, such as posters that contain green messages and reminder stickers for staff to paste on their computer screens.

There is also an online rating system for offices, which allows them to do a self-audit based on their environmental policies, such as recycling habits and waste-minimisation measures.

The SEC also approaches schools to get students involved in green activities from an early age.

Mr Randy Koo, an SEC volunteer, was so inspired that he started an environment club at Anderson Primary School, where he teaches. Five years on, the club now has 50 more members.

'My students love it when I take them to workshops or get them involved in talks and paper-making crafts,' said Mr Koo, 33.

The club also got its students to attend a nature camp organised by the SEC on Pulau Ubin in 2006, where they were given guided nature walks and tips on recycling.

Although recycling is important, reducing and reusing are the other two Rs that have a more positive environmental impact, said Mr Lim. 'When you recycle anything, you use things like electricity or water, but when you reduce and reuse, you don't really use much else.'

The SEC's operating costs average out at $1 million every year, covered partly by donations from companies and the grants it receives for its various projects from the NEA.

Still, the challenge is for the group to drive home its environmental message to the masses.

'After going to the beach and planting some trees, the benefits are not immediate,' said Mr Lim, who has been with the SEC for five years. 'You don't get the feel-good factor like you do when visiting an old folk's home or orphanage, so people are more reluctant to help.'

The SEC has lined up a slew of activities this year, including the Green Transport Week and the Green Summit, dubbed the 'Green Oscars', where awards will be given out to companies that excel in environmentally friendly workplace measures.

Said Mr Lim on how Singaporeans are doing on the green front: 'A good gauge is seeing how many people take their own bags or are reducing the usage of plastic bags in supermarkets. You can see from there that we still have a long way to go.'

jessicaj@sph.com.sg

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Lack of green perks disappoints industry players in Singapore

Budget surplus gives scope for perks such as tax credits, say industry players
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 23 Feb 08;

IT HAD been widely anticipated, but in the end, the 'green Budget' that many people had been waiting for did not materialise.

The lack of incentives such as tax credits to encourage environmentally sustainable business practices has left industry players across various business sectors feeling disappointed.

They say the bumper $6.4 billion Budget surplus offered plenty of scope for such measures.

Post-Budget discussions in both the public and private sector have questioned the 'noticeable absence' of such policies.

Some MPs have said they will be raising questions of their own at the upcoming Budget debate, which begins on Monday.

Singapore Environment Council executive director Howard Shaw said, given that awareness of climate change has grown in the Republic in the last year, the lack of pro-green fiscal policies has been very surprising.

'I thought this year would be the green year. But perhaps, we'll see some provisions for this in the upcoming debate,' he said.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, the MP for Bukit Panjang, also said he had expected a 'green element' in the Budget, delivered on Feb 15. 'In emission standards, we are a long way off. Perhaps we should provide for all our public transport going diesel too,' he said.

Only one announcement - to cut costs for private diesel cars - seemed related. Under newer standards, such cars release less carbon dioxide than petrol cars.

However, Mr Charles Chong, who heads the Government Parliamentary Committee on National Development and Environment, felt the Government should move towards encouraging compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, which are greener than diesel and petrol cars.

Mr Chong, an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, said he will also be asking questions related to green incentives in the debate.

'The private sector is more bottom-line driven and less altruistic in the short term. The Government has to take a longer-term view and put in the green infrastructure and policies. And what better time to do it than in a Budget surplus year?'

Although widely-expected direct measures such as tax credits for energy-efficient equipment for businesses did not turn up, the Budget did include indirect measures such as tax allowances for local research and development (R&D) - which could boost the environment solutions sector.

Also, in the past year, the Government has announced a slew of initiatives to improve environment sustainability such as the Clean Energy Programme Office.

Funds have been set aside to build test-bedding sites and for manpower training.

These efforts, although not part of the Budget, also helped to drive the local green movement.

Nominated MP Edwin Khew, also chief executive of local waste recycling firm IUT Global, said the R&D incentives will help the clean energy sector as its development is tied closely to breakthroughs in R&D.

Mr Khew said he will ask about incentives for the clean technology sector on Monday.

Recently, PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore tax partner David Sandison said Singapore might have missed an opportunity in the wake of the Bali climate change conference to take a lead in the green movement.

Mr Shaw, however, recognised that an economy with green policies does not happen overnight. He added: 'Making the right decisions is necessary and this will take time.'

Singapore cost spiral: Rising prices, bigger handouts

Rising costs for individuals and businesses, a growing 'gimme' mentality and the dangers of the 'green-eyed' syndrome in society were among the concerns raised at a Straits Times roundtable, chaired by deputy editor Warren Fernandez, ahead of next week's debate on this year's Budget

Lydia Lim & Bryan Lee, Straits Times 23 Feb 08;

THEIR big looming worry is how fast costs for both individuals and businesses will keep rising, and for how long.

Their reading: No reprieve any time soon, even if economic growth were to moderate this year due to a global slowdown, as the momentum of economic activity will mean that competition for land, labour and other resources will remain red hot.

The six panellists fired off tough questions for the Government on why it pushed ahead with last July's hike in the goods and services tax (GST) from 5 to 7 per cent, and the increase in Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) tariffs from April this year, at a time when the inflation rate is high and rising.

Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng said: 'I think the real danger here is that this could risk entrenching inflation expectations - therefore making the inflation problem even more persistent than it otherwise would be.'

OCBC economist Selena Ling agreed. She observed that inflation has both external and domestic sources and said government fee hikes can have a significant impact on costs over the medium term.

But panel members were divided on how best to tackle the issue of rising costs for businesses.

At one end were Mr Kit and MP Inderjit Singh. They argued that this year's Budget should have done more to help businesses tackle rising costs, with some short-term reliefs.

Mr Singh, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Finance and Trade and Industry, said cost increases for materials, rentals and manpower have been 'too steep and too fast', catching many businesses off-guard.

'So businesses will struggle for a while. And I thought that this was the best time, with the kind of surplus that we have, to also address this short-term problem,' he said.

The Government logged a whopping $6.45 billion Budget surplus last year, due to record levels of stamp duties from a red-hot property market and higher- than-expected income tax receipts.

Its 2008 Budget measures for businesses, however, focused on developing local enterprises over the longer term, through new tax deductions and incentives to spur research and development.

But Mr Singh said what businesses urgently need are measures such as rental and corporate tax rebates, to provide immediate relief from cost pressures.

Mr Kit questioned if the Government should go ahead with this year's planned ERP hikes, which will further raise business costs.

Businessman Zulkifli Baharudin and MP Sin Boon Ann took a different view.

They argued that Singapore's open economy limits what the Government can do to buffer businesses and individuals against high costs. They believe the focus should be on channelling resources to raise productivity.

Mr Zulkifli, managing director of logistics company Global Business Integrators, said: 'If you want to be a London or New York, then it's going to be very costly. But there's the other side of the argument, which is productivity. If your productivity is high, you can mitigate against high costs.'

High costs have hit individuals too.

Taxi driver Raymond Lo, 68, a regular contributor to the Forum pages of this newspaper, said the public feels 'Singapore is a very expensive city to live in'.

He related a recent incident which brought home to him how prices are shooting up.

He stopped at a petrol station to pick up his favourite lotus paste bun, only to find that the price had gone up from 60 cents to 80 cents.

'I got a shock. That is a 33.5 per cent jump,' he said.

Mr Lo welcomed the Budget measures to help the lower-income cope with rising costs but says more needs to be done to combat profiteering. Amid a buoyant economy, businesses believe they can get away with raising costs by more than the rise in GST.

Others round the table, however, noted that costs have risen in part because of global factors beyond anyone's control, such as oil prices hitting US$100 a barrel, and skyrocketing food prices worldwide.

Mr Singh pointed to how wages had been rising significantly, with some bankers, for instance, drawing $8,000 starting salaries. Such rises feed into higher prices for rentals and housing, adding to inflationary pressures.

Last week, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced a $1.8 billion surplus-sharing package that included personal income tax rebates, cash grants in the form of Growth Dividends and top-ups to Medisave.

Those on lower incomes and the elderly received more Growth Dividends and larger top-ups.

Mr Tharman also gave the assurance that the Government has in place strategies to ensure Singapore continues to have lower inflation than the rest of the world, over the medium term.

In assessing how the Government is helping Singaporeans cope with inflation, the six cited two main concerns. The first is Singaporeans may develop a 'subsidy mentality' and expect handouts in every Budget.

The second is the social tension arising from a growing income gap.

Mr Singh noted that the Government has felt compelled to dish out goodies three Budgets in a row: this year because of the 'unbelievable' surplus and rising costs, last year to offset the GST hike, and the year before because 'it was a good time to do it for the Government'.

Singapore went to the polls in 2006.

OCBC economist Selena Ling said the Government could better manage expectations of handouts if it could find a more accurate way of estimating its tax receipts.

She suggested a mid-year review of its budgetary position.

' That's something they really need to look into because it's all about managing expectations, at the end of the day. If you project a small deficit and in the end, you get a huge surplus, the political pressure will be there,' she said.

Mr Sin, who chairs the GPC for Community Development, Youth and Sports, was concerned that people's expectations will always outstrip the Government's ability to help them cope with rising costs.

The challenge, he said, is to manage expectations in the midst of a rich-poor divide that cuts across local-foreigner lines.

The double blow of rising costs and a widening income gap on low-income Singaporeans is causing Mr Singh to wonder about the Government's strategy of making a dash for growth in good years.

This approach had given rise to the present situation in which the economy is racing ahead, but running into major constraints in terms of labour shortages, a housing crunch, and crowded public transport.

He plans to make that a focus of his speech during next week's Budget debate.

'A couple of years ago, the PM - when he was the Finance Minister - said that his model is going to be grow as fast as you can in good years to make up for the bad times, and so therefore, we created an overheated situation,' he says.

Others, like Mr Kit, pointed to how attempting to ease the shortage of workers could give rise to more pressures on housing and places in schools.

While no one was wishing for slower growth - which might come this year anyway - panellists believed that more could be done to help businesses and individuals cope with the downside of a boom economy.

Read more!

Singapore should mull carbon tax: World Green Building Council

Uma Shankari, Business Times 23 Feb 08;

But the price of carbon credits varies across regions and must be worked out

(SINGAPORE) Singapore should look at imposing a carbon tax as it strives to make its construction industry more sustainable, the chairman of the World Green Building Council said yesterday.

'I think you (Singapore) should consider a carbon tax,' Kevin Hydes told reporters on the sidelines of the FutureArc forum, a nine-city conference on green building.

The tax should be considered because it is a 'behaviour-shifting' idea, Mr Hydes said.

But problems need to be ironed out first, he said. For a start, the price of carbon credits has to be worked out. Right now, the price varies greatly from region to region.

Even without the tax, Singapore has taken great strides in making its buildings more green, Mr Hydes said.

'We all need to move faster, but I think Singapore is moving as fast as possible,' he said. On a per capita basis, Singapore probably has one of the highest incentives to encourage green building, he pointed out.

John Keung, chief executive of industry regulator the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), said at the forum that since the Green Mark scheme was introduced in 2005 to rate the environmental friendliness of buildings, 'green buildings are taking off'.

'Close to 100 buildings will be awarded the Green Mark by the end of this financial year, and another 200 buildings are in the pipeline,' he said.

Some 17 buildings attained the Green Mark in both 2005 and 2006. BCA is also looking at extending the scheme to include a Green Mark for Singapore's parks.

In addition, more than $15 million of a $50 million research and development (R&D) fund, set aside by the government to make the mass application of green building technology more cost-effective, has already been committed in support of various projects, Dr Keung said.

Mr Hydes said that while the green building movement in Singapore has been led by the government so far, industry could play a bigger part.

'Knowledge from academia, the power of industry and the government to regulate - we need all three,' he said. 'But the private sector should lead.'

A 'coalition model' would position Singapore as a regional leader in green building technology - something that the government would very much like, Mr Hydes said.

The World Green Building Council is a union of national councils in countries across the world, including Japan, the UK and the US. Collectively, the nations represented on the council account for more than 50 per cent of worldwide construction activity.

Green scheme to mark 100 buildings by next month
Straits Times 23 Feb 08;

GREEN buildings are finally taking off in Singapore after a slow start.

Results were sluggish when the Green Mark scheme began in 2005 but they are improving, said Building and Construction Authority (BCA) chief executive John Keung yesterday.

About 100 buildings will have been stamped with the Green Mark - which rates their environmental impact and performance - by next month, said Mr Keung. He added that there are another 200 buildings in the pipeline.

This is in stark contrast to the 17 buildings awarded both in 2005 and 2006.

'The industry has responded very well. This could only have been achieved with strong support from many green champions,' said Mr Keung, who was speaking at the Singapore leg of the inaugural FuturArc Forum on green buildings spanning nine regional cities.

The forum - organised by the BCA with Singapore-based construction information services firm BCI Asia - also heard from a green building expert, Mr Kevin Hydes.

Mr Hydes, chair of the not-for-profit World Green Building Council, told the 400-strong audience that buildings account for 33 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions - seen as the main culprit of climate change. In some cities, this hits 80 per cent.

'I don't think the global building industry has got the message out to the politicians that green buildings are part of the solution to climate change,' he said.

From April, it will be compulsory in Singapore for all new buildings and those undergoing major retrofitting to be green.

Mr Keung said BCA is in talks with the National Environment Agency to devise a scheme to give owners of old buildings incentives to go 'green' and upgrade.

Also in the pipeline is a joint BCA and National Parks Board Green Mark scheme for parks, which would involve the better use of lighting, water and other resources.

JESSICA CHEAM

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More blackouts likely in Java, Bali as coal stocks run out

Salim Osman, Straits Times 23 Feb 08;

JAKARTA - INDONESIA'S most crowded island of Java and tourist hot spot of Bali are likely to be hit by more blackouts as coal stocks in two big power plants are in danger of running out over the next couple of days.

State electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) warned yesterday that bad weather was still hampering the delivery of coal to power plants in Java and Bali as ships carrying the commodity were not able to dock at ports.

Its spokesman Mulyo Adji said the Tanjung Jati power plant in Central Java, which has a capacity of 1,320 megawatts, only had coal stocks for one day.

The Cilacap power plant, also in Central Java, which has a capacity of 600 megawatts, had coal stocks that will last until tomorrow.

'There will be many blackout areas in Java and Bali islands if the two power plants stop supply,' an Energy Ministry official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

Since bad weather struck Indonesia this week, huge waves have prevented ships carrying coal from docking at ports in Java, hampering the delivery of the commodity to the power plants.

The task of supplying coal to all the power plants in Java and Bali is undertaken by nine ships although the company requires 15 ships to do the job, said PLN.

Yesterday, Coordinating Economic Minister Boediono told reporters that the government would consider allowing the PLN to use foreign-flagged ships to help out.

Meanwhile, PLN transmission director Herman Darnel Ibrahim said the company would switch to more expensive oil-based fuel to replace coal.

Rolling blackouts have been imposed in Java and Bali because of the power crunch since Monday.

The PLN head in Bali, Mr Hendra Saleh, told The Straits Times that there was sufficient power supply for Bali in the coming weeks, as power cuts were imposed mainly in outlying districts instead of the tourist areas.

'We don't want the power shortage to affect our tourism industry, which is our economic lifeline,' he said.

In Jakarta, the PLN has imposed power outages of three to four hours in several parts of the capital.

PLN has also asked industries to use generators rather than electricity to ease the power demand.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) yesterday said that rolling blackouts in Java and Bali were bad for business and the tourism sector.

Parliament Speaker Agung Laksono also hit out at the state power company yesterday, saying that the PLN should not blame the weather for the disruption in supply.

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More Singaporeans buying cheaper frozen food products

Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia 22 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE: As disclosed in the Budget statement last Friday, Singapore will import food products from more countries to fight inflation and keep prices affordable.

For example, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has given the green light for pork to be imported from Chile and the Philippines from this year, and seafood lovers can expect oysters and fish all the way from Namibia.

About 90 percent of meat, seafood and eggs on supermarket shelves in Singapore are imported from places like Finland, Argentina and Sweden.

Dr Paul Chiew, deputy director, Veterinary Public Health, AVA, said: "Any establishment and sources that can meet AVA's animal food safety and health requirements will be accredited to export to Singapore.

"This is expected to bring enhanced free market competition, with more choices for the traders and for the consumers. And with this accreditation, we will enhance Singapore's resilience in terms of supply such that when there is a source that's down with some food safety hazards, we can always turn to other alternative food sources."

The strategy was put to test in 2003 when the bird flu outbreak in Malaysia caused major disruptions in egg supply, and prices skyrocketed to 60 cents per egg.

To moderate prices, AVA approved Australian eggs to be imported. Even though the items travel a longer distance to get to Singapore, AVA said they do not necessarily cost more.

Dr Chiew explained: "Relative to import of goods from nearby sources, the import of goods from faraway places comes in larger container loads and usually by sea. Through larger economies of scale and in terms of cost per unit, this works out to be quite competitive."

At NTUC Fairprice, the prices of frozen seafood and meat imports are 20 percent to 50 percent cheaper than fresh ones.

The supermarket chain said chilled fresh meat retains its quality for three to five days, while frozen meat can be kept for between three months and a year.

But not all consumers are swayed by the lower prices and longer shelf life.

One said: "I'll consider it. I just don't think that it has the flavour. I don't think it has as good a quality."

"It's harder to cook. You have to handle it correctly. If not, bacteria can infect it," said another.

NTUC Fairprice said that generally, the demand for fresh and chilled food is relatively higher than the demand for frozen ones. But the sale of frozen food has gone up by at least 10 percent last year.

"Frozen is better... fresher. They are processed immediately after being harvested from the sea," said a customer.

Another said: "They are cheaper! Sometimes they're on offer, so I'm happy."

The AVA has lined up a series of activities to encourage Singaporeans to turn to frozen food products as cheaper alternatives.- CNA/so

Singapore importing more frozen meat
Channel NewsAsia 23 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE: Singapore is importing more frozen meat like chicken and pork today compared to eight years ago.

According to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), import numbers have risen by between seven and 20 percentage points, with the import of frozen pork seeing the highest increase.

Frozen pork import was 38 percent in 2000 and last year, it stood at 58 percent. Frozen chicken import was 55 percent in 2000, but rose to 62 percent last year, while frozen beef import went up to 91 percent last year from 84 percent in 2000.

AVA has launched a new campaign to encourage more Singaporeans to switch from chilled meat to frozen meat.

The campaign will educate consumers on areas like how to handle, store and cook frozen meat.

Frozen chicken and pork are about 15 to 20 percent cheaper than chilled ones. In fact, some cuts like chicken drumsticks and wings could be cheaper by about 50 percent.

Tng Ah Yiam, director, Integrated Purchasing, NTUC Fairprice, said: "In the last six months, we've seen an increase of 15 percent for sale of frozen meat and an increase of nearly 25 percent for frozen chicken parts."

At the launch of the AVA campaign, Minister of State for National Development, Ms Grace Fu, pointed out that contrary to popular belief, frozen meat is as tasty and nutritious as chilled ones.

"If there are alternatives that give us the same value for less, I think in this time of rising inflation, it's good that we have choices for consumers," she said.

Currently, food stalls and restaurants are still the main users of frozen meat. Experts said if you are not cooking the meat immediately after you buy it, it is best to get the frozen ones because they can be kept for as long as six months in the freezer.- CNA/so

AVA hopes S'poreans will warm to frozen meat
Shuli Sudderuddin, Straits Times 24 Feb 08;

GO FROZEN and save money in the process.

That was the message from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), when it launched its Frozen Meat Public Education Campaign yesterday.

Given rising food prices, frozen meat is a good alternative to fresh meat, says the AVA, with celebrity chef Violet Oon on hand to prove the point by whipping up several dishes using frozen meat.

There will be a roadshow to teach the public how to buy, handle, store and cook frozen meat.

Ms Grace Fu, Minister of State for National Development, speaking at the event, urged Singaporeans to take the frozen route.

'People are still resistant to using frozen meat because they think it is less tasty and wholesome. This is not true,' she said.

She said about 58 per cent of the chicken and pork consumed in Singapore today is frozen.

At least two supermarkets report that, in the past six months, more Singaporeans have been buying cheaper frozen products.

At Sheng Siong, a fresh chicken costs about $5.60 while a frozen one is only $4.

NTUC FairPrice said sales of frozen pork and beef have risen by 15 per cent in the past six months while frozen poultry sales jumped 25 per cent.

In conjunction with AVA's campaign, FairPrice yesterday started offering discounts on frozen meat products.

Ms Eileen Poh, 26, who works in marketing, said she does not mind frozen meat.

'It is much cheaper and also more convenient because some frozen parts are conveniently boneless,' she said.

Read more!

Disappearing tortoises: Playing God in the Galapagos

On one of Darwin's pristine islands, the tortoises are dying out. So should we introduce a similar breed, or simply stop meddling?

Henry Nicholls, The Independent 20 Feb 08;

In a concrete pen, basking in the warm equatorial sunshine, dozens of baby giant tortoises are about to make history. Later this year, these animals will be the stars in one of the boldest conservation initiatives ever attempted in the Galapagos, the best-preserved tropical archipelago left on earth.

Back in 1835, Charles Darwin marvelled at these extraordinary islands isolated in the midst of the Pacific.

Today, as some 150,000 visitors experience a similar sense of wonder every year, the influence of Darwin is stronger than ever as conservationists tirelessly toil to maintain the subtle differences in the flora and fauna found on each of the islands in the archipelago.

Just as they were for Darwin, these differences are a compelling illustration of evolution in action. They are what make the Galapagos special.

But now, after 50 years of enforcing strict segregation of the 11 or so recognised types of tortoise, keeping each contained on its own island or within its own volcano, conservationists are about to break with their purist past and take tortoises from one island, Española, and release them on to another, Pinta.

This is the first time that conservationists in the Galapagos have attempted to replace one species with another, says Felipe Cruz of the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS), the institution on the central island of Santa Cruz that brings scientific know-how to the conservation effort.

The reason for this introduction is simple. Pinta's tortoises are all but extinct. The only known individual – a hapless male called Lonesome George – has been in captivity at the CDRS since his discovery on the island in 1972. George was probably only one of few tortoises that survived the devastation wrought in the 18th and 19th centuries, by pirates and whalers in search of a square meal.

Without its tortoises, Pinta has suffered. In the 1950s, someone introduced a few goats to the island. They bred like billy-o, and within decades there were thousands crammed on to a volcano seven miles long and four miles wide. The Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS) responded with an armed assault. In the 1970s, wardens shot more than 40,000 of Pinta's goats, all descended from the few animals set down on the island little more than a decade earlier. Still, it was not until 2004 that the GNPS finally claimed victory against these mammalian aliens.

Since the eradication of Pinta's goats, the vegetation has bounced back. But in the absence of its dominant herbivore – the giant tortoise – the island's vegetation is at risk, says Ole Hamann, a botanist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, who has been studying Pinta's plants since the early 1970s. Some species are starting to crowd out others, he says: "Tortoises will open up the vegetation, making room for light-loving herbs and grasses."

The decision to replace one species with another – what's known as "taxon substitution" – is not without its risks. Some conservation biologists argue it's impossible to anticipate the consequences of such an intervention. "Many people like the idea of a pure Galapagos, the idea of finding a mate for Lonesome George and repopulating Pinta with pure-bred tortoises," says Bryan Milstead, head of vertebrate research at the CDRS. But right now there's also a need to manage the ecosystem properly. It's a tortoise-dominated, tortoise-evolved landscape. Pinta needs a dominant herbivore – now."

Conservationists in the Galapagos should be comforted by the experience of their counterparts in the Mascarenes and Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, the only places outside the Galapagos with wild giant tortoises. There, tortoises from the atoll of Aldabra have been used as replacements for extinct species. Returning tortoises to islands that once had them is good for ecological balance, says Justin Gerlach, scientific co-ordinator of the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles. "As long as the habitat is well on the way to recovery I would have thought the Española tortoises will do well," he says.

This places the Galapagos and the Seychelles at the cutting edge of conservation biology, says Josh Donlan, a conservation biologist at Cornell University: "This should be replicated on islands around the world where suitable taxon substitutions exist and invasive mammals have been removed."

The individuals destined to fulfil this role are the offspring of a small group of Española tortoises brought to the CDRS in the 1970s. Since then, these animals – themselves the last of their kind – have produced more than 1,500 babies, which when old enough have been shipped to Española. With these offspring now grown up and breeding on their island, the GNPS can now send some of these captive-bred tortoises – which are Lonesome George's closest cousins – to Pinta.

The GNPS aims to introduce dozens of young Española tortoises to Pinta every year. They will be around five years old, and the size of a dinner plate – but this is too small for them to carry a satellite transponder. Most likely, however, they will be fitted with miniature solar-powered radio-transmitters. This should allow scientists to track the movements of each one, says Milstead, giving a unique insight into how tortoises colonise a new island and their impact on the vegetation.

The release was pencilled in for the first half of this year. But in January, park wardens on a routine visit to Pinta to check for goats made an unsettling discovery: the bloody massacre of dozens of sea lions. In all, they found the remains of 53 animals, including 13 pups, almost all of them with cranial fractures consistent with death by clubbing.

The last few years have seen increasing political and social stability in the islands and this episode has raised concerns that there is still a disgruntled minority prepared to sabotage the efforts of conservationists. The GNPS, however, is determined to push ahead with its plans to restore the ecological make-up of islands such as Pinta to something like their pre-human glory. So if all goes to plan and the Española tortoises are set free on Pinta later this year, will Lonesome George be amongst them? It's unlikely. Last year, geneticists produced the best news Lonesome George has received in more than 35 years in captivity: he may not be alone after all. A blood sample collected from a tortoise on Isabela Island in 2000 shows clear signs of Pinta ancestry. Unfortunately, the animal is also a male. Nevertheless, the geneticists and GNPS staff are planning an expedition to Isabela to see if they can track him down. There is always a chance he has sisters. If a suitable mate can be found and Lonesome George decided to breed, the radio signals emitted from the Española tortoises on Pinta could be used to round them up.

But time will not be on George's side. The Española tortoises heading towards Pinta should reach maturity in around 2020. Once they start breeding, it will be hard to deny that the substitution of Lonely George and perilous taxon is final.

Read more!

Rat Invasions Causing Seabird Decline Worldwide

Scott Norris, National Geographic News 21 Feb 08;

Invasive rats on ocean islands are threatening the survival of many of the world's seabirds, according to a new report.

The global analysis found that non-native rats have been observed preying on roughly a quarter of all seabird species, often with disastrous consequences.

The voracious rodents attack bird nesting colonies, eating eggs, chicks, and sometimes even adult birds.

Now 102 of 328 recognized seabird species are considered threatened or endangered by the World Conservation Union, with predation by invasive species ranking among the top dangers.

"Seabirds are important ecological actors in the oceans and on islands, but 30 percent of all seabirds are at risk of extinction," said study co-author Bernie Tershy of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"Invasive rats are likely the single largest threat to seabirds," said Tershy, also a former grantee of the National Geographic Conservation Trust. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)

Smaller seabird species and those that nest in burrows or rock crevices are particularly at risk, the study said.

That group includes storm-petrels, auklets, murrelets, and shearwaters, according to lead author Holly Jones of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

"Rats can have a larger impact on entire seabird populations in species with adults that are small enough to prey on," Jones said.

"Burrow- and crevice-nesting seabirds share the same underground habitat [as rats], which makes a predation encounter more likely."

Oh, Rats!

Traveling with humans as ship stowaways, three rats species native to Europe and Asia have become established on about 90 percent of the world's major islands and island chains, experts say. In many cases the original invasions occurred centuries ago.

The Pacific rat first reached New Zealand, Hawaii, and many South Pacific islands on the canoes of early Polynesian voyagers, and Roman ships helped spread the black rat and brown rat throughout the Mediterranean.

Many seabird species considered vulnerable to rats have been showing local or global declines for decades and have now reached perilously low numbers, according to the researchers.

On rodent-infested islands, seabird breeding colonies often persist only on isolated rock outcrops that remain inaccessible to rats.

The researchers present their findings in the February edition of the journal Conservation Biology.

No Escape

Even some large species, such as the Laysan albatross, have proven vulnerable to the invaders.

"Because most seabirds evolved in the absence of any [land-based] predators, many have no evolutionary adaptation to avoid predation by rats," Yale University's Jones said.

The birds also have a hard time shifting their breeding locations to different islands to escape danger.

"Many seabirds are [genetically] programmed to return to breed where they were born," Jones noted.

Alan Saunders directs the Cooperative Islands Initiative at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He was not part of the new study.

"No species is safe when rats arrive," Saunders said.

"Island ecosystems are especially vulnerable to induced change, and more extinctions have taken place on islands than anywhere else."

In addition to seabirds, he noted, invasive rats have caused extinctions of many native land birds, reptiles, frogs, and even plants.

"By consuming fruit, seeds, and flowers, rats can change the structure and composition of forests, and alter the entire ecology of islands."

Good Riddance to Rats

On Anacapa Island, part of California's Channel Islands National Park, breeding populations of the rare Xantus's murrelet and ashy storm-petrel had been decimated by black rats that were introduced prior to 1940.

But a successful restoration initiative between 2001 and 2002, which focused removing all non-native rodents using biodegradable poisons, has turned things around.

"Since rat eradication, [seabird] numbers seem to be increasing," Jones said.

Effective rat-removal techniques have also been pioneered in New Zealand, where more than a hundred previously infested islands are now rat-free.

While eradication projects such have been opposed by some animal rights activists, conservationists say rat removal is the only way some seabirds and other island species can survive.

"The eradication of invasive species from islands, especially rodents, has heralded a new era in conservation management globally," said the University of Auckland's Saunders.

"Spectacular ecological responses have been measured following rat eradications."

Experts agree the new study should help conservation managers in different parts of the world prioritize islands for rat eradication and protect the seabird species most at risk.

Read more!

Climate Change Driving Mongolians From Steppe to Cities

Stefan Lövgren, National Geographic News 21 Feb 08;

Lifelong herder Namdag lives in a traditional felt tent home—or "ger"—among some half dozen cars in various states of disrepair, an informal junkyard against the towering, snow-capped mountains that surround the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator).

"I miss my old life," said the 71-year-old, now a world removed from the sweeping steppes he once called home. "But life out there is too difficult."

Namdag, who like many Mongolians uses only one name, is one of the hundreds of thousands who in recent years have abandoned their nomadic herding lives for an urban existence.

The former herders crowd into sprawling townships on the periphery of Ulaanbaatar, which has doubled its population in the past two decades. (See a video of Mongolian nomads and their fading lifestyles.)

While there are many reasons for the migration, observers say climate change is increasingly a driving force behind Mongolians' move toward the cities.

Landlocked between Siberia (Russia) and China, Mongolia is feeling the impact of global warming more than most regions in the world.

Over the past 60 years the average temperature in Mongolia has risen by 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.9 degrees Celsius). In contrast, the average temperature around the world has climbed only about 1 degree Fahrenheit (about 0.6 degree Celsius) in the past century.

The warmer temperatures are drying up Mongolia's grasslands, which provide food for the country's livestock.

"The Mongolian herding way of life is under threat from global warming," said Azzaya, director of the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology in Ulaanbaatar.

Soil Moisture

With its hot summers and cold winters, Mongolia has one of the most extreme climates anywhere on Earth.

It also ranks as the world's least densely populated nation. On the vast steppes (see photo) that stretch across northern Mongolia, miles often separate individual gers, which are moved by their nomadic inhabitants up to four times a year according to the seasons.

Men on horseback, wearing long robes known as "deels," drive herds of livestock—sometimes more than a thousand animals at a time—across the rugged plains, just as their ancestors have done for centuries.

"Mongolians are very dependent on their livestock, and the livestock is very dependent on the environment," said Clyde Goulden, director of the Institute for Mongolian Biodiversity and Ecological Studies at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Goulden has studied the climate changes occurring in the mountainous area surrounding Lake Hövsgöl Nuur in northern Mongolia.

He confirmed the above-average temperature rise and added that the warming appears to have accelerated over the past ten years.

In a region where winters can be long and brutal, a milder climate would seem to benefit Mongolia's herders. But warmer temperatures stunt the growth of the vegetation that feeds the animals.

"The biggest problem is that [the warming] leads to an increasing loss of soil moisture, which is critical to plant growth," Goulden said.

The average amount of precipitation has remained steady. But rains tend to be more infrequent and heavier when they occur.

"When you have these heavier rains, you get greater runoff, with less of the moisture being soaked up by the soil for the summer growth," Goulden said.

He estimates that 15 to 20 percent of soil moisture is lost due to the changing climate in Mongolia.

Fierce Blizzards

Winters have seen the most severe warming, with warmer temperatures ultimately resulting in more destructive ice.

"They'll get a moderate amount of snow, but then there's a warm day and the snow melts, then a cold day again and it freezes," Goulden said.

"This builds up two inches (five centimeters) of ice, and the livestock can't get to the food.

"When that occurs for a month or two, you have a large number of animals dying of starvation," he said.

The changing climate also creates less predictable weather patterns, and it may have an effect on a Mongolian weather phenomenon known as the "dzud," fierce winter blizzards that sometimes cripple the country.

Namdag once owned more than a hundred horses, sheep, cows, and camels. He lost 90 percent of his animals in the devastating dzud of 1999.

"Only the camels survived," he said.

In 2005 there were 81 days of extreme weather in Mongolia, including dust storms, according to Azzaya, the meteorologist.

"Summer temperatures are not changing overall," she said, "but we are seeing an increase in continuously hot days—nine, ten days straight with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), which is something we haven't seen before."

The many novice herders are easy victims to the increasingly severe weather, which tests even old hands like Namdag.

During Mongolia's Communist rule, which lasted until 1990, the government limited the number of livestock in the country to about 15 million.

When Mongolia switched to a market economy and those state-imposed limitations were abolished, many Mongolians with little or no herding experience acquired animals and got into the herding business.

"Many of the people who lost livestock during the dzuds a few years ago were new to herding and didn't understand how to prepare for [extreme weather]," said Goulden, of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

"When disaster struck, they were forced to move to the city."

Keeping the Tradition

There are 33 million livestock in Mongolia today, more than ten times the number of people. But many young people in Mongolia show little interest in the herding lifestyle.

Outside the provincial capital of Mörön, 18-year-old Mendbayr keeps watch on more than a thousand sheep from the back of his Mongolian horse.

His family has been herding for generations, but Mendbayr has other plans for his future.

"I'm going to the university," he said. "I want to become a mechanical engineer like my older brothers."

Others are determined to weather the hardships of the herding life.

An hour's jeep ride north of Mörön, 60-year-old Baasanjav is preparing to dismantle his family's ger to make the winter journey into the mountains, which offer some protection from the biting wind that sweeps across the plains.

"I'm not giving up this life," he said. "It makes me happy to be out here."

One of his two sons, 27-year-old Purevsuren, has agreed to work as a herder.

Baasanjav watched his son stack sacks of cabbage onto a horse-drawn cart for the journey north.

"It's important that our children continue this tradition," he said.

Read more!

Energy storage nears its day in the sun

Gerard Wynn, Yahoo News 21 Feb 08;

Energy storage is an unglamorous pillar of an expected revolution to clean up the world's energy supply but will soon vie for investors attention with more alluring sources of energy like solar panels, manufacturers say.

"It's been in the background until now. It's not sexy. It's the enabler, not a source of energy," said Tim Hennessy, chief executive of Canadian battery makers VRB Power, speaking on the sidelines of a "CleanEquity" technologies conference in Monaco.

VRB will start mass production this year of a longer-lasting rival to the lead acid battery currently used to store energy for example produced by solar panel, Hennessy said.

Low carbon-emitting renewable energy is in vogue, driven by fears over climate change, spiraling oil prices and fears over energy supply and security.

While the supply of the wind and sun far exceeds humanity's needs it doesn't necessarily match the time when people need it: the sun may not be shining nor the wind blowing when we need to cook dinner or have a shower.

Soaring production of solar panel and wind turbines is now spurring a race to develop the winning energy storage technologies which will drive the electric cars and appliances of the future.

The race is heating up as manufacturers with entirely different solutions near the moment of commercial production.

For example, UK-based ITM Power sees the future of energy storage in the explosive gas hydrogen. The company is developing a piece of kit called an electrolyzer which uses solar or wind power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

The hydrogen is then stored in a pressurized container until it is needed, whether to drive a car, produce electricity or for cooking.

"With batteries you're taking enormous quantities of basic raw materials," said Chief Executive Jim Heathcote, referring to cadmium in nickel cadmium varieties. His company won an award for research at the Monaco conference, organized by corporate finance advisers Innovator Capital.

"Two things we're confident of is the supply of renewable energy and water," he said.

ITM Power aims to start production later this year of electrolyzers and next year of hydrogen fuel cells which generate electricity.

"The one problem everyone's had is how to store. The ability to take (surplus) renewable energy and make useful fuel out of it is almost priceless," Heathcote said.

RICH

The economic opportunities are highlighted by a third company, U.S.-based EnerDel, which aims to supply batteries for the "Th!nk City" electric vehicle, manufactured by Norway's Think Global.

In the case of electric cars, cheap, lightweight batteries are needed to power motors, and will eliminate carbon emissions if the batteries are charged using renewable power sources.

EnerDel has patented a lithium-ion battery which it says is lighter and cheaper than the nickel metal hydride batteries currently used in hybrid electric cars such as the Toyota Prius.

"I think energy storage is the next frontier," said Charles Gassenheimer, chairman of EnerDel's owners Ener1 Inc.

The "Th!nk" car could be the world's first mass production electric vehicle, starting in earnest in 2009. It will go from 0 to 60 miles an hour in about 8 seconds and have a range of up to 100 miles, said Gassenheimer.

Investors have given their thumbs up to Ener1, which now has a market capitalization of around $700 million, a ten-fold increase over two years ago.

Read more!