More investment in cleantech is needed (Business Times)

The following was published on December 5, 2012.  By Ron Mahabir

SINGAPORE SHOULD INVEST MORE HEAVILY IN CLEANTECH

AS WE speed dangerously along the highway of global economic growth, it has become awfully clear that we are headed for major accidents in food, water and other resource shortages, as well as increasing environmental disasters.

We just have had way too many red alerts in recent years including Fukushima, Gulf of Mexico, Katrina, floods and heat waves to not take these a great deal more seriously. It is probably more than coincidence that 2012 is on track to be the hottest year in the United States and Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane on record.

NorSun to build $300M Singapore solar plant

March 4, 2008 (AP) – A Norwegian manufacturer of solar panel components will start building a wafer plant in Singapore this year, the company said Tuesday.

“Solar energy will be the dominant source of energy in the future. It’s a very exciting industry to be part of,” said NorSun AS founder Alf Bjorseth, at a press conference.

The company plans a US$300 million (euro197 million) factory that can make enough solar wafers in a year to produce 350 megawatts of power. Construction will start in the third quarter of this calendar year.

It expects operations to begin in the third quarter of 2009.

Green developers get S$20m fund (Singapore)

March 4, 2008 (Today Online) – Developers of new and green buildings can now tap into a S$20 million fund set up by the Government – a decision that is certain to sit well all-round as oil prices continue to surge.

The fund will partly offset the cost of integrating solar panels into new buildings “which attain a certain level of Green Mark standard”, Mr S Iswaran, the Minister of State for Trade and Industry (MTI) told Parliament yesterday.

Asia’s tigers eye nuclear future

February 15, 2008 (Asia Times) – The 2005-07 spike in petroleum prices topping out at US$100 a barrel has prodded economic planners across the globe to reconsider their energy options in an age of growing concern over global warming and carbon emissions. The Southeast Asian economies, beneficiaries of an oil and gas export bonanza through the 1970s-1990s, now find themselves in an energy crunch as once-ample reserves run down and the search is on for new and cleaner energy supplies. Notably, regional leaders at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November 2007 issued a statement promoting civilian nuclear power, alongside renewable and alternative energy sources.

6 Key steps to meet Singapore’s energy needs

February 10, 2008 (Lin Yanqin and Esther Fung) Spiralling oil prices, growing global demand for energy, limited and uncertain supplies from oil-producing countries, climate change from greenhouse gas emissions – these are the challenges faced by a Singapore dependent on imports for energy needs.But even if Singapore has to be a “price-taker” in meeting its energy needs, it can still turn “energy challenges” into “energy opportunities”.

To help make this happen, a master plan – outlined in the National Energy Policy Report – was unveiled by the Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang yesterday, with six strategies mapped out for Singapore’s energy future.

Steps will be taken to improve energy security by diversifying energy sources and the mix of fuels currently used to generate electricity. Plans are also in place to grow the value-add of the energy industry, now worth 20 billion, into a $34-billion industry by 2015, and triple the number of jobs to 15,300.

Siemens to set up wind energy centre in Singapore

January 16, 2008 (Straits Times) – In the latest in a spate of alternative energy-related investments in Singapore by foreign companies, Siemens will open a new regional sales office to promote its wind energy technologies. The German industrial giant announced the new initiative at a conference as it kicked off its 100th anniversary celebrations at the Victoria Concert Hall yesterday.

Finland’s Neste Oil says Singapore biodiesel plant to be operational in 2010

January 16, 2008 (Thomson Financial) – Finnish oil refiner Neste Oil said Tuesday that its biodiesel plant in Singapore, its largest, will be operational 2010 and initially cater to Europe’s growing biofuel requirement.The company’s investment of 550 million euros to build the plant, which will have an annual capacity of 800,000 tons, is in line with its strategy to become the world’s leading producer of diesel from renewable feedstock.

It is anticipating that demand will grow rapidly in developed economies.

Demand for biodiesel in Europe is currently around 6-8 million tons annually and is expected to grow to 13-15 million tons by 2010.

Oerlikon Solar to open plant in Singapore

January 11, 2008 (EETimes.com) – Oerlikon Solar plans to open a new facility in Singapore in an effort to increase its presence in the Asia region.  The facility will initially employ approximately 100 people and is planned to be completed within a year.  ”Asia is emerging as an important market for solar energy applications,” said Uwe Kruger, CEO of the Oerlikon Group, in a statement.  ”The new location will allow Oerlikon Solar to build the necessary capacity to expand its market-leading position.”Headquartered in Trubbach, Switzerland, Oerlikon Solar is a supplier of equipment for the solar industry.  Product offerings include automated turnkey lines, laser systems and advanced machining.  It is part of the Oerlikon Group, formerly called Unaxis.

Neste to build $814 mln Singapore biofuel plant

Finland’s Neste Oil said on Friday it would build the largest biodiesel plant in the world in Singapore, investing 550 million euros ($814 million). Neste said the plant would have a design capacity of 800,000 tonnes a year, and use mostly palm oil as its raw material, though it can use also other feedstock.

“The investment forms part of Neste Oil’s strategic goal of becoming the world’s leading renewable diesel producer,” the firm said in a statement.

Carbon trading centres: ready to flood the Asia Pacific

Carbon exchanges across the Asia Pacific are getting ready to compete. Governments and business groups in the Asia Pacific are jockeying to establish the best- placed carbon trading hub in the region, in anticipation of substantial growth in both the voluntary and compliance carbon markets.