Singapore to focus on energy efficiency

Joyce Hooi Business Times 3 Nov 10;

ENERGY efficiency will be the main thrust of Singapore's strategy to combat climate change, given the limitations faced by the country on the alternative energy front, said Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, at the Clean Energy Expo yesterday.

'Singapore's geographic location and small size have placed severe constraints on the use of alternative energy,' the minister said. 'Improving energy efficiency is thus our key strategy towards climate change mitigation and sustainable development.'

In this respect, Singapore has made some headway, according to Edwin Khew, chairman of the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore. Mr Khew said yesterday that various government measures have led to an improvement in efficiency of 19.4 per cent over 2005 levels.

Even then, Singapore will continue to grow the clean energy sector through a mix of funding and initiatives.

'However, despite our constraints, we are not turning a blind eye to the clean energy sector. In fact, we view the clean energy industry as a strategic growth area for Singapore,' said Dr Yaacob.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) also launched a new 'Policy Pathway' series for energy efficiency in buildings yesterday, as part of the Clean Energy Technologies Symposium in Singapore.

The series will help governments put in place energy efficiency policies by providing practical guidelines on the matter.

'If you give a country an energy efficiency recommendation, you hold their attention for a day. Help a country to implement the recommendation, and you can launch energy savings that last for years,' said IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka at the symposium.

The second of the IEA's 'policy pathways' to be launched, the newly launched one is titled Energy Performance Certification of Buildings.

Singapore currently has the Green Mark scheme and Energy Smart Building Scheme in place to encourage energy efficiency in buildings.

'The building sector is an area of interest. It is one of the largest in terms of energy consumption,' said Lawrence Wong, chief executive of the Energy Market Authority (EMA), at the symposium yesterday.

'I think one of the things that we will need to focus on will be existing buildings. For new buildings, we have seen movement and higher take-up. For the retrofitting of existing buildings, I think it will be more challenging.

Mr Wong added that they would be studying the best practices of other countries as well.

The efforts in the field of energy efficiency in buildings might soon be paying off for Singapore.

The Zero Energy Building on Braddell Road - which was set up as a test-bed for energy efficiency - might have outdone itself.

'The raw results from the trials seem to show that we have generated more power than we consume,' said Lee Chuan Seng, chairman of Beca Asia Holdings and president of the Singapore Green Building Council.

Beca Asia Holdings - which provided Green Mark consultation and project management for the building - is part of New Zealand-based Beca Group Ltd, an engineering and consultancy services firm.