Government Needs to Come Clean on Coal

Grace Chua of the Straits Times wrote an article today on “Reign of old king coal is not necessarily over“, exploring the upsides and downsides of using coal.

Here is Eugene’s reply letter to the ST Editor:

I refer to the article, “Reign of old king coal is not necessarily over” by Grace Chua (ST Mar 19).

The article highlighted several environmental and technological uncertainties associated with the use of coal, which would be best answered by the government. The public needs to know the pros and cons of using coal, and it would help if the government openly and clearly explains its decision to use coal, while anticipating the coming carbon-constrained world, maintaining our clean and green image, and achieving our aim to be a clean energy hub.

For a start, the government could clarify the following:

1. Has the government assessed the environmental impacts of using coal or conducted a life cycle assessment study of coal? How does it compare with natural gas?

2. Would the government require the upcoming coal and biomass-fired power plant by Tuas Power or new power plants using coal, to conduct an environmental impact assessment before going ahead to construct?

3. Would the use of coal lead to more carbon emissions as compared to using natural gas, and undermine the government’s own efforts to reduce emissions by 16% from 2020 business-as-usual levels?

4. Is the government funding research on carbon capture and storage, or technology to reduce coal emissions so that they are on par with those from natural gas?

5. Would the use of coal tarnish Singapore’s reputation as a clean and green city?

6. Would the use of coal without carbon capture and storage technology contradict Singapore’s vision to be a clean energy hub?

7. Would the use of coal reduce the demand for LNG and challenge the viability of the government’s new LNG terminal?

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Singaporeans May Be Suffering From Tech Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (TOCD)

The IT Show in Singapore which ended yesterday broke records yet again with sales over S$65 million and over 800,000 visitors. Record sales and visitors have been achieved every year and this is the same for the other tech shows – The PC Show (June), COMEX (September), and SITEX (November). The four tech shows are also know as Singapore’s four seasons as they happen every three months.

Singaporeans just can’t get enough of tech gadgets and products. We lap up every new phone, camera, computer, netbook, printer, portable hard disk, and music player that is available. We keep buying and changing more electrical and electronic products unnecessarily. It’s like we are suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and can’t stop.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder in which you have unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to engage in repetitive behaviors (compulsions). With obsessive-compulsive disorder, you may realize that your obsessions aren’t reasonable, and you may try to ignore them or stop them. But that only increases your distress and anxiety. Ultimately, you feel driven to perform compulsive acts in an effort to ease your distress. – MayoClinic.com

Perhaps Singaporeans may be suffering from tech obsessive-compulsive disorder (TOCD), which we define as a type of anxiety disorder in which a person feels empty and unsatisfied with existing tech products (which are working perfectly fine), and engages in repetitive behaviour to buy new tech products in an effort to ease that urge. But after buying the new tech products, the person feels empty again and has the urge to buy newer tech products, and the cycle continues again (every 3 months).

Are you suffering from TOCD? TOCD not only causes distress and anxiety to the sufferers but also impacts the environment. Resources are used to manufacture and ship electrical and electronic products all over the world and it’s a waste of resources if the lifespan of the products get shorter as consumers keep changing them.

Most importantly, as more such products are being discarded, it becomes a global e-waste problem. The export of e-waste from developed countries to developing countries on the pretext of recycling poses environmental and health problems as the e-waste contains toxic chemicals that will pollute the environment if they are not “recycled” properly in the developing countries.

We usually prescribe a simple treatment for TOCD by training thoughts on:

Use it as long as it works.

Buy only what you need.

Go to tech shows occasionally.

Committee of Supply Debate 2010: Environmental Policies under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, and Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, gave their speeches during the Committee of Supply Debate under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) yesterday. The speeches address various environmental policies, including:

• Sustainable Development – Overall Approach to Resource Efficiency and Mitigating Climate Change
• Improving Energy Efficiency
• Singapore’s Vulnerability to Climate Change
• Managing Our Water Resources
• Recycling and Waste Minimisation
• Building Up R&D and Manpower Capabilities in Clean Environment and Water Sectors
• Dengue
• Sustaining Public Cleanliness
• Licensing Elderly Tissue Paper Peddlers
• Noise
• Enhancements to Food Hygiene Regime
• ABC Waters Programme

Here are some key points that they raised: Read more

Committee of Supply Debate 2010: Green Building Policies under the Ministry of National Development

Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development gave her speech during the Committee of Supply Debate under the Ministry of National Development (MND) yesterday. The speech addresses policies related to green buildings in Singapore:

Greening Our Buildings

19 Mr Cedric Foo has asked how HDB estates can be more sustainable. Our existing HDB estates have designs which facilitate cross-ventilation and natural lighting. For new estates, we will continue to incorporate environmentally friendly features and green technologies. For example, HDB is pushing forward the installation of solar photovoltaic panels (PV) at four precincts at Tampines, Bukit Panjang, Tanjong Pagar and Marine Parade.

20 HDB, together with Town Councils, also aims to reduce the energy consumption of common areas in new and existing HDB estates by 20% and 30% respectively. This is done by introducing features such as energy efficient light fittings and lift systems.

21 In addition, HDB has piloted centralised recycling chute systems in our existing estates (Blk 297C and 297D Chua Chu Kang). The results of the pilot study were encouraging, with about 3 times more recyclables collected as compared to conventional door-to-door collection method. With the plan to position Punggol as an Eco-Town for the tropics, such technologies will be explored for testing on a larger scale in Punggol.

22 Our sustainable development efforts must extend beyond our public housing estates. In April 2009, the Government released Sustainable Singapore Blueprint which outlined our efforts to improve our overall energy efficiency by 35% from 2005 levels by 2030. All sectors, including the building sector will need to play their part towards meeting this target.

Raising Minimum Standards for New Buildings

23 By the end of this year, we will raise the mandatory minimum energy efficiency standard for Green Mark certified level for new buildings by 10% from today’s standard. Correspondingly, the energy efficiency standards for other Green Mark levels, i.e. Gold, GoldPlus, and Platinum will be raised. Building owners can enjoy cost savings in the long run by being more energy efficient.

Mandatory Submission of Energy Data

24 To better understand energy consumption patterns, and to monitor the effectiveness of our energy efficiency measures, BCA will require building owners and utilities companies to submit energy and other building related data such as Gross Floor Area (GFA) and specifications of building systems on an annual basis starting from 2011. Building owners can also use the information to pro-actively improve their buildings’ energy efficiency.

25 Going forward, BCA will consult the industry on the possibility of mandating a minimum energy efficiency standard for existing buildings.

Source: MND

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