EMA removes ‘hard cap’ on solar energy supply

Siau Ming En Today Online 21 Jul 14;

SINGAPORE — Nearly a year after the Energy Market Authority (EMA) announced plans to raise the cap for more power to be generated from intermittent generation sources, it has decided to make further tweaks to the arrangement to encourage the growth of solar energy generation here.

In a determination paper released earlier this month, the EMA said it would remove the present “hard cap” of 600 megawatt-peak (MWp) of solar energy that can be supplied to the grid. Instead, it would introduce a “dynamic pathway” approach, where more solar power can be stored in reserve — and supplied to the grid — if more is generated.

Intermittent generation sources are those whose output depends on environmental factors and weather conditions, such as solar and wind energy. At present, the only intermittent generation source connected to the national grid is solar power.

Reserve power from conventional generation sources, such as gas-fired power plants, is needed to manage intermittency — such as cloud cover, which can cause a drop in solar output — and ensure grid stability.

At the Singapore International Energy Week held last October, Second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran launched a consultation paper to seek views on the proposed changes to the rules governing intermittent generation sources, such as to allow these sources to supply more power to the grid.

During the consultation exercise, the EMA received feedback that while raising the hard cap is a straightforward approach towards allowing intermittent generation sources to supply more power to the grid, the cap will also restrict the growth of solar energy in Singapore.

“Under (the new) approach, there is no hard cap on the amount of installed solar capacity in Singapore. If necessary, additional reserves capacity can be procured to back up a higher amount of solar capacity beyond 600MWp,” said the EMA.

Commenting on the move, Mr Shawn Tan, business development manager at solar-system developer Sunseap Leasing, told TODAY that while this approach means there will be an increased capacity for companies to take on more solar photovoltaic projects, it could also bring additional costs for them.

As more reserve capacity is needed to back up the potential increase in solar energy, Mr Tan said companies might now need to bear some of these costs, which could eventually affect the returns on installing a solar photovoltaic system.

Similarly, smaller contestable consumers — those with systems that are less than 1MWac — who install intermittent generation sources to offset on-site consumption will also find it easier to be paid for supplying excess electricity that they sell to the national grid. Contestable consumers are those who buy electricity from other service providers, instead of SP Services.

Players in the solar industry also noted that the present market-registration process — which requires them to register with the Energy Market Company to receive payments for excess electricity sold into the grid — is onerous. A new scheme, to be implemented between January and March next year, will allow consumers to be paid the energy cost of the electricity they export into the grid — currently 25.68 cents per kWh — through SP Services without going through the existing registration process.

Mr Christophe Inglin, managing director of Phoenix Solar, said this new pricing scheme would benefit customers, such as schools and non-air-conditioned warehouses, who shut down their operations on Sundays and public holidays.

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Indonesia: 154 hotspots detected in Riau

The Jakarta Post 20 Jul 14;

Terra and Aqua satellites detected 154 hotspots in areas across Riau province on Sunday, indicating forest and land fires had increased again following a decline in rainfall.

“The number of hotspots in Sumatra has reached 195, 154 of which are located in Riau,” Agus Wibowo, head of the data and information division at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said as quoted by Antara in Pekanbaru, on Sunday.

He said the satellite observation results were obtained from the latest Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG) report sent at 5 a.m. local time on Sunday.

The number of detected hotspots in today’s report was far higher than what had been reported one day prior, which had reached only 75 spots.

Agus said the hotspots were scattered in six regencies and municipalities, most of which were in northern Riau coastal areas. He said authorities should pay close attention to the situation because haze from the fires could potentially spread to Malaysia and Singapore, as the wind might blow from the south to areas in and around the Malacca Strait.

One hundred-and- thirty- one hotspots were detected in Rokan Hilir, making it the regency with the highest number of hotspots, followed by Bengkalis regency (13), Rokan Hulu regency (6), Pelalawan regency (2) and Dumai city and Kuantan Singingi regency with one hotspot each.

With data accuracy of more than 70 percent, Agus said, 98 hotspots were strongly indicated as fire hotspots.

“It is predicted that potential for fires is still high because rainfall is expected to be low in Riau. Chances of low-intensity rains, which are local in nature, during evening and early in the morning are predicted to occur in small parts of eastern and southern Riau,” said Agus.

Meanwhile, Sultan Syarif Kasim II Pekanbaru airport duty manager Ibnu Hasan said smoke had yet to disturb visibility, which had reached 5 kilometers at 7 a.m. local time on Sunday.

“It is still relatively safe,” he said.

However, the BMKG had detected a mixture of smoke from fires and haze in four areas, namely Dumai, Pekanbaru, Pelalawan and Rengat.

The Riau administration has yet to change the smoke disaster alert status in the province, even though the potential for land and forest fires in the area is still high and due to the impact of El Niño.

The Riau Haze Emergency Task Force has continued its efforts to tackle the fires by deploying fire fighters, three water bombing helicopters and by carrying out weather modification to produce artificial rain. (ebf)

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Vietnam’s marine ecosystems in danger

VietNamNet Bridge 20 Jul 14;

Vietnam’s diverse marine ecosystems are being threatened by human activity and natural disasters, affecting the lives of many people, especially the poor.

The country’s marine ecosystems includes 155,000 hectares of mangroves, 1,300 square kilometers of coral reefs, 500 square kilometers of lagoons, 16,000 hectares of seaweed and algae ecosystems, intertidal areas and estuaries.

The ecosystems provide many important services to people, with 20 million people indirectly influenced by the services and 8 million poor people living in the ecosystems.

According to the Centre for Marine Life Conservation and Community Development, the services of the coral reef ecosystem have an estimated total value of $100 million. One square kilometer of coral reefs can provide aquatic products worth $10,000.

In the Mekong River Delta, one square kilometer of mangroves can provide 450 kilos of aquatic products. The seaweed ecosystem brings aquatic products and services worth over $20 million, and lagoons can bring $2,000 per hectare.

The ecosystems not only bring economic value, but also help protect the living environment. The coral reefs in the central region protect the coastline, while the mangroves can reduce the land erosion and protect from typhoons and high tide.

One square meter of seaweed can create 10 liters of oxygen, helping balance O2 and CO2 in water and reduce greenhouse effects. Every acre of seaweed (0.44 hectare) can generate 10 tons of leaves every year.

The living mass provides food, habitats and breeding grounds to invertebrates and vertebrate species.

Degradation

A survey of the Natural Resources and Maritime Environment Institute found that Vietnam’s maritime ecosystems have been diminishing over the last few decades.

Only one percent of the 1,300 square kilometers of coral reefs along the coastline is in good condition. The coral coverage fell sharply by 30 percent in 1993-2004.

Meanwhile, the mangrove ecosystem has shrunk since the beginning of the 20th century.

The survey also found that the aquatic creature volume caught on every hectare of lagoon fell by 50 percent in comparison with the last decade. The seaweed cover in Khanh Hoa province has shrunk by 80 hectares per annum.

Increasing human population, which leads to a higher demand for ecosystem services, has put pressure on the maritime ecosystems.

In 2000, Vietnam had only 250,000 hectares of shrimp hatchery areas, but the figure soared to 530,000 hectares in 2003. Vietnam is now listed among the countries with the largest shrimp-farming areas in the world.

Human production activities, including natural resource overexploitation, unsustainable aquaculture and industrial production, and climate change have also been damaging maritime ecosystems.

The Prime Minister in 2010 approved the maritime protection area (MPA) development program, under which Vietnam would have 16 MPAs with the total area of 169,617 hectares by 2020 and at least 0.24 percent of territorial waters belonging to MPAs, while 30 percent of every MPA area would be put under strict control.

Tin Tuc

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'Peak soil' threatens future global food security

Nigel Hunt and Sarah McFarlane PlanetArk 18 Jul 14;

The challenge of ensuring future food security as populations grow and diets change has its roots in soil, but the increasing degradation of the earth's thin skin is threatening to push up food prices and increase deforestation.

While the worries about peaking oil production have been eased by fresh sources released by hydraulic fracturing, concern about the depletion of the vital resource of soil is moving center stage.

"We know far more about the amount of oil there is globally and how long those stocks will last than we know about how much soil there is," said John Crawford, Director of the Sustainable Systems Program in Rothamsted Research in England.

"Under business as usual, the current soils that are in agricultural production will yield about 30 percent less than they would do otherwise by around 2050."

Surging food consumption has led to more intensive production, overgrazing and deforestation, all of which can strip soil of vital nutrients and beneficial micro-organisms, reduce its ability to hold water and make it more vulnerable to erosion.

Such factors, exacerbated by climate change, can ultimately lead to desertification, which in parts of China is partly blamed for the yellow dust storms that can cause hazardous pollution in Asia, sometimes even severe enough to cross the Pacific Ocean and reduce visibility in the western United States.

Arable land in areas varying from the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa, to the Middle East and Northern China has already been lost due to soil degradation.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that 25 percent of agricultural land is highly degraded, while a further 8 percent is moderately degraded.

MORE MOUTHS

Crawford said the degradation of soil could in theory lead to more land being bought into agricultural production, which would deal a serious blow to efforts to stem climate change, since clearing forests for farmland leads to a heavy net increase in greenhouse gases.

"If we keep treating our soil the way we do, we will have to convert about 70 percent of the earth's surface into agriculture to meet demand for food by 2050 (from about 40 percent now)," Crawford said.

That is in part because there will be many more mouths to feed. The United Nations has projected that global population will reach 9.6 billion by 2050, up from 7.2 billion last year.

Emerging nations are also embracing Western diets that include more consumption of meat, which will add further to the strain on agricultural resources.

Crawford also noted that moderately degraded soil could only store about half the amount of water of good soil, adding to pressure on limited water resources.

"We need to find ways of pricing the true cost into food, including the environmental cost of soil degradation," Crawford added.

Food security became a hot topic after record high grain prices in 2008 marked the start of a period of volatility.

Agricultural markets are still unstable, after near-record prices in 2012 prompted increased production, which led to surpluses. [ID:nL6N0PM324]

Prices have since fallen back on the rebound in production and global stocks, with decent harvests expected in several major grain producers including the United States this year, but there's a risk of complacency on the long-term outlook.

"We are trying to make sure when we talk about food security we talk about healthy soil. The link has been missing to some extent," said Moujahed Achouri, Director of the FAO's Land and Water Division.

"We do believe there that now there is momentum (to tackle the soil problem)."

Price pressure and ultimately margin pressure can lead to farmers taking shortcuts to achieve something in the short term at the expense of the long term, said Nicholas Lodge, managing partner at Clarity, a Gulf-based agricultural investment firm.

"You can really have a harmful impact on soil in as little as one season," said Lodge.

"If you happen to have damaged the soil and you're losing the top soil, it's not then an easy matter to repair that situation or replace that soil."

SOIL MINED

One of the main drivers of soil degradation has been the trend towards less diversity in agriculture.

"In a lot of agriculture it has become a monoculture, so you just don't get the diversity of plants that are necessary for healthy soil, and often the agricultural practices are all about mining the soil rather than managing it," said Tim Hornibrook, head of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management Limited.

Vietnam is one example of a country where there has been an increased focus on one crop with a huge surplus of robusta coffee grown to export to the global market.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also estimates that corn will be harvested on around 177 million hectares this year, a rise of around 65 percent over the last 50 years.

"Farming with monocultures leads to decreased productivity," Hornibrook said.

Excessive use of fertilisers can also cause damage to soil, at times altering its acidity or salinity in ways that reduce microbial activity and therefore ultimately plant growth.

More education in the farming sector on how to conserve soils, along with better use of technology, is expected to help tackle the problem.

"Technology which can help includes imagery which allows you to do soil mapping of what mineral and nutrients are in the soil and applying fertilizer according to the requirement of each individual area of the farm," said Hornibrook, adding that investment was challenging as the sector was fragmented and capital starved.

"The issue doesn't get addressed without capital. Investing in your soil costs money and therefore the ultimate way to incentivise farmers to do it is higher food prices."

But higher prices alone won't encourage consumption patterns that provide a healthy balance for both people and soil.

"Consumers make choices largely on price, farmers make decisions largely on profit," Crawford said, adding there was no clear incentive to encourage behavior that benefited health or the environment.

"We need to try and encourage better diets from a health and environment point of view."

(Editing by Veronica Brown and Will Waterman)

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Late monsoon starts Indian farmer's 'journey to hell'

Ratnajyoti Dutta PlanetArk 21 Jul 14;

Bhura will have to go and work for a big grower to feed his family of six, making 250 rupees ($4.00) a day, as he did when India suffered its last severe drought in 2009.

"I have no option but to become a bonded labourer just to feed my family one meal a day," said Bhura, 50, looking at his stunted crop on his third of a hectare of land.

Bhura's borderline existence is shared by many farmers in the district of Shamli, in the sugarcane belt of India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, three hours' drive north of the capital New Delhi.

With this year's monsoon rains several weeks late, the world's second-largest sugar and rice producer is on the verge of widespread drought in the face of a developing Pacific Ocean weather event known as El Nino, which is often associated with drought in South Asia.

In good years, the four-fifths of local farmers who tend a hectare or less, can get by. In bad years, they slide into debt. Some lose their land. Others are forced into servitude.

Hunger for land and water feeds social tensions. In nearby Muzaffarnagar, communal clashes last year killed about 65 people, most of them Muslims, and displaced thousands more. [ID:nL3N0N21M4]

India's farm sector accounts for about 14 percent of the economy but two thirds of its 1.2 billion people depend on farming to live. Most poor live on the land. Areas that lack irrigation are most vulnerable when the rains fail.

Although the national weather office said on Thursday that the monsoon had covered all of India, rainfall in the first six weeks of the wet season has been more than a third below normal.

A poor monsoon could raise imports of cooking oil to India, the leading buyer of vegetable oils. The country may also cede its position as top rice exporter to Thailand. [ID:nL4N0PK3CZ]

Cane and basmati rice fields in Shamli, a district carved out of Muzaffarnagar three years ago, showed gaping cracks on a recent visit.

"For me, my wife and two sons and two daughters, the journey to hell has already started. Our stomachs will be half empty soon," said Bhura, whose gaunt face and unkempt beard betrayed anxiety and exhaustion.

LATE RAINS

Even if the monsoon revives during the rest of the planting month of July, farmers here expect losses of at least a fifth in summer-sown crops like rice, corn, cane, soybean and cotton.

India harvested 348 million tonnes of cane last year, with an average sugar content of 11 percent.

Productivity in Uttar Pradesh typically lags that of other growing regions like subtropical Maharashtra due to poorer soils and a less favorable climate. Another two weeks without rain could lower both tonnage and sugar content, possibly to 8 percent, local farmers reckon.

Farmers worry the impact this year could be worse than five years ago, when India suffered its worst drought in four decades. Subsequent supply shortages from the country pushed New York sugar prices to 30-year highs.

"The rains improved in early July five years ago, but this year the dryness stretched beyond the second week of July," said Yogendra Singh, who mainly grows cane on five hectares of land.

Cane fields here are irrigated with water from canals built during British colonial rule. But the sturdy crop, planted twice a year, only blooms when it rains regularly.

"Canal water can initiate sowing activities in cane but water from the sky is vital for the nourishment and growth of the crop," said Singh, who retired from the Indian Air Force two decades ago to join his three brothers in farming.

Though production will fall this year, India will not have to trawl the global market for sugar because of surpluses piled up over the past four years.

CROP SWITCH

Other farmers are turning away from cane to other crops that they hope will safeguard their incomes.

"I have switched to cultivation of banana as it promises much higher returns than cane or basmati rice," said Nameet Panwar, 24, who is just starting out farming one hectare of his family's land.

Panwar expects to earn a minimum of 1 million rupees ($16,600) from growing bananas, he says, more than twice that of cane even if the sugar plant is harvested twice a year.

Responding to the late monsoon, local authorities have put contingency plans into action, including providing quick-growing seed varieties of pulses to growers and ensuring adequate supplies of pesticides and insecticides at farmers' doorsteps.

"We too have in place a drought contingency plan to mitigate any situations arising due to rainfall that is 50 percent below normal," said district magistrate N.P. Singh. Marginal farmers would be given work digging wells. ($1=60.1050 Indian Rupees)

(Editing by Douglas Busvine and Richard Pullin)

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Plastic 'Trash Islands' Forming In Ocean Garbage Patch

Tia Ghose LiveScience.com Yahoo News 20 Jul 14;

After returning from the Transpacific Yacht Race — an annual sailboat race from Los Angeles to Honolulu — in 1997, Capt. Charles Moore was guiding his boat through the doldrums when he noticed some plastic debris floating in the water.

Though it didn't seem like an overwhelming amount of trash, he recorded log entries every hour, noting the bits of debris in the water. Toothbrushes. Bottle caps. Eel traps. Floating nets. Soap bottles. On and on it went.

Given that he was in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between California and Hawaii, with nothing nearby, it was odd to find such a long stretch of trash, Moore said.

"It's the most remote part of our world," Moore told Live Science.

When he reached solid land, Moore told scientists about what he found, then returned two years later to assess the extent of the garbage patch using more scientific sampling methods.

And thus began the story of the great Pacific garbage patch, a swath of plastic debris, chemical sludge and other trash the size of Texas that is trapped in a vortex between ocean currents. [See Images of the Pacific's Trash Island]

More trash

Now, 15 years later Moore has returned to the garbage patch, along with five other people, to track its extent once again and study its impact on marine life. The expedition is part of Moore's organization, Algalita Marine Research Institute, a nonprofit focused on reducing marine plastic pollution. People can learn more about Moore's voyage at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, California, on Sunday (July 20), where he will be answering questions from his boat via a live satellite webcast.

One thing they've discovered so far is that there may be more trash on the ocean surface than previously thought. A 2014 study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the ocean's plastic may be mysteriously disappearing, with much less debris in the water than had been predicted, based on the global rates of plastic production and disposal.

But that estimate relied on trawling for trash with nets. On his current trip, Moore did a similar 4.5-mile (7.2 kilometer) trawl of the ocean, but also used drones to assess the extent of trash from above.

"We found 100 times more plastic by weight with the drone, than we estimated from the trawl," Moore said.

The team is also studying the impact of the plastic on marine life. So far, they have found that about 35 percent of the fish they sampled have swallowed some plastic, Moore said.

Plastic island

The team has also found more permanent fixtures in the garbage patch's landscape. For instance, the team has discovered a "trash island" more than 50 feet (15 meters) long, with "beaches," a "rocky coastline," and "underwater mountains" and reefs made up of ropes, buoys and other plastic debris, Moore said.

Mussels, clams, sea anemones and seaweed were found sheltering on this artificial island, Moore said.

Moore speculates that the island formed after the tsunami that battered Japan in 2011 swept a tremendous amount of ropes, buoys, mooring lines and anchors out to sea from Asian aquaculture farms that were harvesting mussels and oysters.

"It's showing signs of permanence," Moore said. "There will be a new floating world in our oceans if we don't stop polluting with plastics."

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Best of our wild blogs: 20 Jul 14

Bukit Brown Exhibition : Documenting New Horizons of Knowledge
from Rojak Librarian

Life History of the Cycad Blue
from Butterflies of Singapore

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NEA to continue stepping up enforcement against litterbugs

Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 19 Jul 14;

SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) will continue to step up enforcement against litterbugs, but it is hoped this will ease once the anti-littering message is ingrained.

Minister for Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said that after an event to clean up the Bedok South Road area. The event, called “Operation WE Clean Up!” was organised by the Public Hygiene Council, the Singapore Kindness Movement and the Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement.

Recent NEA figures show that more than 9,200 summons were issued for littering in the first six months of the year -- just short of the 9,346 for the whole of last year.

More than 360 participants, together with the minister himself, got in on the litter-picking action on Saturday, with participants covering an area comprising some 60 blocks.

Naeson Menon, a Temasek Junior College student, said: "Most of the litter around is very small things that people, when they throw, may think it won't matter, it won't make a difference, but actually all the small things coming together form a lot of litter everywhere and it's quite unsightly."

Bedok was a litter 'hotspot' in 2012, but efforts by residents to keep it clean transformed it into what the Public Hygiene Council calls a 'Bright Spot'.

Chia Ngiang Hong, chairman of Bedok Citizens’ Consultative Committee, said: "We'd pick up the rubbish, take pictures and during functions and events, we'd show them the effect their rubbish has on our environment, and this seems to have sunk in and has been effective.

“I mean compared to two years ago, when they started the same exercise, they'd pick up about 300kg of rubbish. Now it's only 120kg. Still a lot but it's a lot of improvement from two years ago."

The idea is to pick up litter and separate it into bags, with the waste going into the blue bag and the recyclables going into the green bag. It may sound easy, but imagine doing this around the estate -- where the litter can range from the easier-to-spot items to the harder ones like cigarette butts.

It seems cigarette butts continue to be a common problem.

Speaking to the participants, Dr Balakrishnan spoke of a man who was smoking close to where they were picking up litter.

"His friend told him, 'Please don't throw your cigarette butt. You see they're all picking them up.' And you know what the guy told his friend in front of him, 'Don't worry, this is the cleaner's job',” he said.

Elaborating later, Dr Balakrishnan said enforcement, along with education and public engagement, will need to be stepped up.

"To expect someone to clean up after you and say that is the cleaner's job is not acceptable. And the fact that I come around and pick up your cigarette butt, and even if I don't say anything to you, will make you pause and think and reflect -- we need more of such encounters."

Dr Balakrishnan said it's about reaching a stage where Singapore's cleanliness is a reflection of intrinsic civic values.

- CNA/fa/nd

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Guidelines drafted on animal welfare in Singapore

Sharon See Channel NewsAsia 19 Jul 14;

SINGAPORE: A 15-member committee comprising animal lovers, parliamentarians, and grassroots leader have come up with guidelines on what the basic standard of animal welfare in Singapore should be.

The guidelines, collected in two Codes of Animal Welfare which applies to pet owners and businesses, have been submitted to the authorities for review.

Animal welfare has never been clearly defined in Singapore, and it is the first time such guidelines are being drafted here.

For example, owners must give their pets a clean and safe living environment as well as a well-balanced diet. For businesses, there is a separate set of guidelines, such as ensuring animals are comfortable and safe during transport.

"We try not to be too prescriptive when we actually formulate the code. But it's important to set a clear definition of what are good welfare standards,” said Yeo Guat Kwang, patron of Pets Enterprises & Traders Association Singapore, who is also the MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC.

“Because we have already consulted quite widely, I think this will be something definitely not onerous. It'll be something that is quite easy for everyone to comply and more importantly, it's not so much to try to actually make it to be enforceable, it's important for everyone to be aware that this is the basic care standard that we should have for all the pets and animals in Singapore."

In drafting the Codes, the Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration Committee referred to existing ones in Australia, New Zealand and UK. But it adapted them to fit Singapore's climate and context.

"Singapore is a lot more urban environment. We're a lot smaller in terms of overall space, so we have to take those norms into consideration,” said Alex Yam, chairman of the Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration Committee.

“Of course some things like free-roaming areas so on and so forth. We're quite a built-up area, so those are some of the things that we're unable to include."

The committee also held a one-month consultation online and received some 2,000 comments from some 600 people. Mr Yam, who is also MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC, said 90 per cent of the respondents agreed with what the codes spell out.

Those in the pet industry say the codes are long-awaited and are a positive development for Singapore.

"A lot of pet owners, they buy without doing proper research. And I feel that with the pet industry being on board with this and also educating the staff how to provide point-of-sale education, this can really help in terms of letting the owners know what they're getting into before they actually own a pet," said Veron Lau, vice president of the Cat Welfare Society and member of the Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration Committee.

"Accreditation is necessary to increase the standard of grooming in Singapore. Definitely it will affect some of the business because currently not all of them undergo proper training. But for myself, I think it's quite good because I will know where my standard is, and I think everybody will know where my standard is as well," said Brana Choy, a pet groomer.

Mr Yeo is hoping to table a Private Member's Bill in Parliament in September to amend the Animals and Birds Act. If the law is amended, authorities enforcing the Animals and Birds Act will be able to refer to the Codes of Animal Welfare, if needed.

- CNA/ec

AVA reviewing animal welfare codes
Cheryl Faith Wee The Straits Times 20 Jul 14;

Pet owners here should provide their pets with a balanced diet and fresh drinking water, monitor their health regularly and not leave them in vehicles in conditions that cause heat stress or distress.

These are just a few of the guidelines from the codes of animal welfare for pet owners and businesses, submitted to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) for review by a group looking into the issue here.

"The codes were formulated because there was no clear, agreed definition of what is deemed as good welfare standards," said Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC and a member of the group called the Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration Committee for Animal Welfare (MSCC).

Animal abuse cases here have gone up 28.3 per cent from 377 in 2008 to 484 in 2012, according to AVA figures. Animal cruelty is now prosecuted under the Animals and Birds Act, but critics said its provisions are vague on how cruelty is defined.

The codes are guidelines for best practices and minimum standards for pets, but they can be used as a reference to support the investigation and prosecution of an offence. A summary of these was put up on the AVA's website yesterday.

Speaking to reporters at a Pet Enterprise and Traders Association of Singapore event at Asia Square yesterday, Mr Yeo said the codes were devised based on feedback from around 600 members of the public in a month-long e-consultation earlier this year.

The committee also looked at the welfare standards in countries like New Zealand and consulted different pet industry stakeholders.

In September, Mr Yeo will table a private Member's Bill in Parliament with a few other MPs to amend the Animals and Birds Act. One of the proposals will be to empower the AVA to issue or adopt the animal welfare codes. Law Minister K. Shanmugam had also said earlier that penalties for animal abusers would be stiffened.

The codes are divided into one for pet owners and another for pet businesses. Specific guidelines are also set out for different animals.

For example, one suggestion for owners of small animals like rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters is that they should microchip and sterilise their pets, where feasible.

As for dog owners, the codes suggest they provide cold climate breeds with adequate shade, good fan ventilation or air conditioning.

The guidelines also say pet businesses should check on the health of the pets at least once a day and ensure that all animals are physically fit, healthy and free of diseases prior to mating.

Ms Veron Lau, vice-president of the Cat Welfare Society, said: "On the ground, we see the need for these codes because animal cruelty cases are often not able to move forward due to the lack of guidelines. This is an important first step in crystallising the framework for animal welfare.

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New lab to test, develop solar panels

Today Online 19 Jul 14;

SINGAPORE — Against growing global demand for solar energy, the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) has opened a new facility to develop and test new solar panels under one roof.

The S$6 million facility, described by SERIS — which is part of the National University of Singapore — as the only one of its kind in South-east Asia, could also allow for more solar panels to be tested at once when the facility, which serves both the academic community and industry, acquires new equipment in the future.

The opening of the 1,700sqm facility yesterday comes as the total installed capacity of grid-connected solar photovoltaic modules rose from 0.4 megawatt-peak (MWp) in 2008 to 18.1MWp in Singapore as of the first quarter of this year, according to Energy Market Authority figures.

The space brings together existing facilities, which will save time, said SERIS deputy chief executive officer Thomas Reindl at the official opening yesterday. “You can basically make a (solar) module in the morning, torture it in the late afternoon, (and) you would find out whether the idea that you had in the morning was good or not,” Dr Reindl said.

At the lab, solar panels are subject to “torture” to assess their durability in a tropical climate. This includes shining UV light on it or immersing it in moist tropical air. Solar panels are required to last more than 20 years, he said. The lab will also facilitate the research and development of the pilot production of panels with innovative designs.

Dr Reindl added that by establishing Singapore as a global test centre, Singapore will attract many industry players to establish their regional headquarters here, bringing with them revenue for the country.

New solar lab shines in tropical research
Grace Chua The Straits Times AsiaOne 21 Jul 14;

SINGAPORE - The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (Seris) yesterday opened the only full-scale facility that can test and develop solar modules in South-east Asia, and showed off a system adapted for Singapore's climate.

The $6 million, 1,700 sq m facility at CleanTech Park in Jurong, which serves both academic and industry clients, brings together existing facilities previously located elsewhere at the National University of Singapore and International Business Park.

Most other solar facilities are not in the tropics, so this one has the "natural advantage" of being able to conduct long-term outdoor tests of solar panels in such a climate, said Dr Thomas Reindl, deputy chief executive of Seris, the national institute for applied solar research.

Besides outdoor testing, the facility can produce full-size solar modules for research purposes; simulate full sun evenly across the surface of a panel to benchmark its performance; simulate various climate conditions; and test the mechanical loads that panels can withstand.

It will also enable more researchers to interact, and adds capacity to test more modules at the same time, he added.

Seris aims to make Singapore the global test centre for solar systems in the tropics, he said.

The main hurdle to solar power being used in South-east Asia is cost. In Singapore, the high price of electricity makes solar energy an attractive alternative, though the total installed capacity is a paltry 15 to 20 megawatts.

Already, solar makers here and from countries like Malaysia, component makers, and buyers have engaged its testing services.

Yesterday, Seris showed a new "Singapore module" adapted to its climate. Composed of solar cells encased in a tough glass frame, the model has waterproofing to withstand humidity, and textured glass that allows cells to soak in Singapore's diffuse light instead of smooth glass that would reflect too much.

Work on the module began in 2011. Dr Reindl said Seris is discussing commercialising the product with several companies.

Seris is evaluating proposals to float 10 solar systems each with 100-kilowatt peak ratings on Tengeh Reservoir by the end of this year.

It is developing a website to show the solar-energy potential of each rooftop in Singapore. This could be online by the second quarter of next year.

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Malaysia: New growth plan for Johor

New Straits Times 20 Jul 14;

JOHOR BARU: The state government will launch its Strategic Growth Plan for Johor at the end of the year in an effort to boost the state’s economy by attracting more investors.

Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the plan would focus on five key areas that could boost the economy yet would not compromise the state’s practices and traditions.

He said the state government would ensure that Johor remained competitive in the national and global arena.

“At the moment I cannot give a detailed description of the plan, as we need to wait till it is unveiled in November.

“The plan is something that can lead Johor towards a more dynamic future,” he said after the launch of the second phase of the Frontier industrial park called Frontier Industrial Park 2 in Ulu Tiram, here yesterday.

Present were State Secretary Datuk Ismail Karim, State Tourism, Domestic Trade and Consumerism committee chairman Datuk Tee Siew Keong and WB Land Sdn Bhd managing director Woon Leng Yet.

Khaled said sustainable growth was important not only to enhance the state’s economic growth but also ensure a better quality of life for the locals.

On the Frontier project, he said it had added value that could attract more investors to come to the state.

“Investors are very selective and always want the best, such as strategic location, facilities and project advantages offered in strategic locations to invest in.

“I see the launch of the project to be a benchmark for others who want to develop an industrial park.”

Frontier Industrial Park covers 25ha and is slated for completion by end of next year. It offers investors the concept of an industrial park that is equipped with various security features such as a guarded and gated environment complemented with closed circuit television cameras (CCTVs).

He said Iskandar Malaysia secured RM9.72 billion in new investments from April to June this year, bringing a total new investments for this year to RM14.56 billion.

From 2006 until June 30 this year, he said Iskandar Malaysia secured total cumulative committed investment of RM146.2 billion.

Johor aims to be economic powerhouse
The Star 20 Jul 14;

JOHOR BARU: Johor wants to position itself as Malaysia’s economic powerhouse by continuing to lure high-technology and capital-intensive investments into the state.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Johor had the right eco-system and supporting factors needed to emerge as an economic powerhouse, including its strategic location at the international crossroads.

“Over the years, Johor has maintained its position as one of the top investment destinations in the country in the manufacturing segment,” he told reporters yesterday at the launch of the gated and guarded Frontier Industrial Park II project on a 25.08ha site in Desa Cemerlang here.

Mohamed Khaled said Johor had attracted RM14.4bil in investments in the manufacturing sector last year, which was the highest in the country. Of the total, RM11bil came from foreign investors.

Apart from the state’s strategic location and close proximity with Singapore, which was an added advantage in attracting investors, he said Johor also had skilled workers and good infrastructure.

“Iskandar Malaysia is another main factor that will continue to drive and spearhead economic growth and progress in the coming years,” he said.

Mohamed Khaled said Johor would be more selective in attracting domestic and foreign manufacturers to set up their operations, adding that priority would be given to capital-intensive investments.

He said that Johor was not only competing with other states in Malaysia in attracting investors but also with other countries in the region such as Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“We will launch the Johor Strategic Growth Plan in November by focusing on five key economic sectors as the push factors,” he said.

He added that industrial building developers in Johor should keep up the practice of offering “green and clean”, gated and guarded industrial parks.

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Indonesia, Jakarta: The giant reclamation

The Jakarta Post Editorial 19 Jul 14;

The plan to build a giant seawall and 17 manmade islands in northern Jakarta could be seen as a breakthrough in an effort to revamp the ugly look of the city’s coastal areas. On the other hand, it could also spark new problems, particularly if the planners fail to anticipate the adverse impact of the US$24.7 billion project on the environment.

Therefore, the environmental impact assessment (AMDAL), which is now being reviewed by the Environment Ministry, should guarantee that the megaproject has anticipated any possible ecological destruction as a result of the reclamation of 5,153 hectares of the sea north of the capital.

The multi-purpose project, known as the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD), involves both the central and Jakarta governments and is supported by seven property giants, according to Eko Budi Kurniawan, head of the urban department at the Public Works Ministry.

On the reclaimed islands, which will form the shape of a flying bird, various modern facilities including commercial centers, hotels, apartments and tourism spots will be built.

The reclamation is inspired by a previous project in Dubai, which has now become a prominent tourist destination.

Currently, despite its great economic potential, many parts of northern Jakarta look gloomy and poorly managed. The development of the new area is expected to have positive effects on the surrounding areas.

However, the ecological consideration should come first before the economic benefits. As a reminder, Jakarta under former governor Sutiyoso introduced a mass sea reclamation project. The plan ended in failure due to strong opposition from green activists, who feared that the project could worsen flooding and incite other new problems.

Therefore, the Environment Ministry needs to assess carefully the AMDAL to ensure that all possible environmental problems have been anticipated and addressed. The ministry will be held responsible for an environmental catastrophe resulting from the reclamation project.

The ministry also has to look closely into the AMDAL to ensure the developers have adequately anticipated environmental problems stemming from human activities in the new areas.

The developers, for example, have to develop sustainable waste management and ensure sustainable water resources.

Waste management is imperative because the city remains dependent on a landfill in the satellite city of Bekasi in West Java. The AMDAL should convince the city government that clean water supplies for the new islands will not burden the long-standing shortage plaguing Jakarta.

Many city residents rely on groundwater because tap water operators have been unable to fulfill the people’s needs.

In the future, the reclamation project could stand out as an icon of Jakarta and a symbol of the city’s prosperity, as well as the country’s burgeoning economy.

But it should never force Jakarta citizens to pay dearly for an environmental calamity if both the developers and the government ignore prudence.

History has taught that such risk cannot be belittled.

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