Business Times 15 Feb 11;
CAN the oil & chemicals and power sectors - traditionally regarded as 'dirty' industries - clean up their act and become 'green' or more environment-friendly as far as carbon emissions are concerned? That's what the US is starting to legislate, while Singapore, without resorting to laws just yet, is actively working towards that together with the industries.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made its stand clear. It's time to act. Last December, it announced that it was setting new standards for climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and oil refineries - and this started last month with polluters such as coal-fired power plants and oil refineries having to obtain permits to emit carbon dioxide (CO2), just as they do for other pollutants including emissions that cause smog and acid rain.
Next, the EPA plans to begin setting performance standards, or limits, for both existing and new facilities later this year, with these taking effect from 2012. This is vital given that America's 500 fossil fuel-firing power plants and about 150 refineries together emit a reported 2.4 billion tonnes of CO2 and other greenhouses gases annually, or nearly 40 per cent of total US emissions.
Last November, Singapore also indicated that it will have to put a price on carbon - possibly in the form of a carbon tax here - if all countries pledge to curb greenhouse gas emissions. While the Cancun United Nations climate change meeting failed to deliver on the latter, Singapore nevertheless has to prepare for an eventual agreement.
This is why Jurong Island Version 2.0 - a 10-year strategic plan currently being hammered out to ensure the Singapore energy industry's continued sustainability and competitiveness - is moving in that direction. Why should dirty industries like oil refineries, or power plants, concern themselves about going green? This is because greenhouse gas emission could be vital to their sustainability and profitability. As oil prices stay high, they must turn to more energy-efficient technologies or production to cut costs.
Singapore's power industry, which in 2005 accounted for almost half of the CO2 emissions here, has already moved from oil-firing to cleaner and more-efficient gas-firing plants (which now account for more than 80 per cent of the electricity here). Singapore's LNG project ensures continued gas supplies here, a crucial part of that strategy. Building on this, Singapore is now looking at whether it can tap unused cold energy from the LNG terminal for cryogenic power generation.
Under its 'green' plan, Singapore is also looking to build a terminal to import alternative liquefied petroleum gas feedstock (most likely from Qatar) for petrochemical crackers here, thus reducing the need to have more oil refineries to provide needed naphtha feedstock. Other options under study include harnessing waste heat for desalination plants, and in the longer term, the use of bio-based feedstocks such as palm oil or plant biomass for chemical plants here. Yes, we must try.
