• 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:

At Copenhagen, Singapore supported the Accord, and has since written to the UNFCCC Secretariat to associate ourselves formally with the Accord as a good basis for advancing negotiations towards reaching a legally binding global agreement on climate change. Though the Accord as it stands does not create legal obligations, it contains important elements that can facilitate the on-going negotiations. To date, about 100 out of the 194 Parties to the UNFCCC have associated themselves with the Accord. About 30 non-Annex I countries, including Singapore, have also tabled their emission reduction targets.

To play our part in international efforts to mitigate climate change, Singapore has pledged to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 16% from the 2020 business-as-usual scenario. This target is contingent on a legally binding global agreement in which all countries implement their commitments in good faith. Our target is credible and rigorous given our past efforts to reduce emissions and the constraints we face as a city-state, including our limited potential to adopt renewable energy.It is a substantial commitment by Singapore. Achieving it will involve considerable costs, and changes in lifestyle and business practices.

BCA will increase the mandatory minimum energy efficiency standards for Green Mark certified new buildings by 10% from today’s standards by the end of this year, and will also mandate the submission of building energy usage data from 2011.

Our consultations with large energy users indicate that a wide range of energy management practices exists today. We therefore see the need for minimum standards to ensure greater management attention is paid to energy. While this will ultimately benefit companies in terms of cost-savings, we also recognise the need to give companies sufficient lead-time to prepare.

By 2013, we will require companies in the industry sector consuming more than the equivalent of 15 GWh of energy each year to appoint an energy manager, monitor and report energy use to NEA, and develop and submit energy efficiency improvement plans. NEA will be consulting the companies involved on the detailed requirements.

To ensure a smooth transition, NEA will introduce the Energy Efficiency National Partnership, or EENP, in April to help companies build up the necessary capabilities before the mandatory energy management practices come into effect. We will also be reviewing our incentive schemes and exploring long-term energy efficiency financing options to cater to the needs of companies.

These energy management requirements for industry and energy efficiency-related legislation in other sectors will be consolidated in an Energy Conservation Act that will come into force in 2013. The Act allows for a co-ordinated approach to standards-setting for energy efficiency across all sectors, and will represent a major milestone in the government’s efforts to develop energy efficiency as a competitive advantage for Singapore.

As I announced last year, minimum energy performance standards or MEPS will be implemented for household air-conditioners and refrigerators in 2011.MEPS will remove the most energy inefficient air-conditioners and refrigerators from the market. Depending on the appliance category, all 0-tick models and some 1- and 2-tick models will be removed, representing about 20% of current sales volumes. A sufficient range of brands and models will remain available for consumer choice.

MEPS will help consumers save on electricity bills and is not expected to significantly increase the upfront cost of air-conditioners and refrigerators. A more efficient fridge that costs the same as one phased out by MEPS can save a household about $130 a year. When all the existing air-conditioners and refrigerators in Singapore comply with the MEPS standards, consumers will enjoy a total energy savings of about $20milannually.

We will tighten the MEPS standards over time. We will also consider extending MEPS to more appliances, such as lighting and televisions.

The public sector will continue to take the lead on environmental sustainability measures. From FY11, all Ministries will set energy savings targets. We will continue to study new measures that can be implemented.

In 2007, NEA commissioned a study involving local and foreign experts to understand our vulnerabilities to climate change.

The first phase of the study covering the physical impacts of climate change has concluded. The results have been peer reviewed by international experts who noted that the study adopted well-established methodologies and that the findings are plausible.

The study projects that the average daily temperature in Singapore could increase by between 2.7 to 4.2°C from the current average of 26.8°C by 2100 and the mean sea level around Singapore could rise by 24 to 65 cm by 2100. These findings are within the range of our expectations and consistent with global projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

By 2011, Singapore’s water catchment area will increase to two thirds of our land area with the completion of the Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs.

In addition, when Changi NEWater Factory is fully completed in 2010, NEWater will be able to meet 30% of our current water needs. As a source which is independent of rainfall, NEWater enhances the resilience of our water supply by supplementing local water stocks in the event of extended dry spells, like what we are experiencing today.

Singapore’s overall recycling rate increased from 40% in 2000 to 57% in 2009 and we are on track to meet the target of 60% by 2012. We are studying how we can enhance the effectiveness of existing recycling efforts. For instance, there is scope to reduce the amount of domestic waste disposed and we are working with the public waste collectors to review the National Recycling Programme. This includes studying the provision of more recycling bins in HDB estates and the collection and recycling of other waste streams such as garden waste from landed homes and food waste from markets.

To reduce waste at source, NEA has collaborated with the food and beverage industry on the voluntary Singapore Packaging Agreement since July 2007. The Agreement demonstrates that environmentally friendly practices make sound business sense – the participating companies saved $4.4mil from a reduction of 2,500 tons of packaging waste over the last two years. … Following the extension of the Agreement to cover all types of product packaging since October 2009, we can expect to see avoided waste and reduced packaging in other sectors as well.

Source: MEWR

Venue: ESI Conference Room, 29 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Block A #10-01, Singapore 119620

Speaker: Dr. Bas Bouman, International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Philippines

The water-energy nexus is an understudied field. To oversimplify the issue, water is needed to produce en-ergy and energy is required to process and move water. Given this reality, there is a positive co-relation be-tween water and energy and thus, by default, between water consumption and greenhouse emissions. Con-sequently, efforts to decrease water consumption globally must be an integral part of the global efforts for mitigating the devastating greenhouse emissions and particularly global warming.

Added to growing consumption of water for personal and industrial purposes, food production is account-ing for major global water requirements. While many varieties of agricultural products of global demand (e.g., wheat and corn) are water-intensive, rice is especially so requiring much larger amount of water dur-ing the course of its production. It is therefore more energy-intensive than many other crops. Against this background, efforts to reduce water consumption for cultivating rice are especially important given the sheer size of the undertaking as the land used globally for such cultivation is about 150 million hectares producing around 600 million tons of rice for global consumption.

Visit the Energy Studies Institute (ESI) website for details and registration.

Source: Energy Studies Institute

This is a chronology of the news and responses on Tuas Power’s clean coal and biomass cogeneration plant.

14 Mar 08 – Tuas Power sold to China Huaneng Group (Temasek successfully completes divestment of Tuas Power by Temasek Holdings)

27 Mar 08 – Tuas Power announced that it is looking at building a $2 billion coal-fired plant (Tuas Power may build $2b coal-fired plant by Business Times)

2 Apr 08 – We think it is highly possible that Tuas Power would take the coal route and expressed our concerns (Red dot goes black? by AsiaIsGreen)

26 Sep 08 – Tuas Power announced plans to build a $2 billion steam and electricity production plant to run on clean coal and biomass on Jurong Island (Tuas Power to build $2b ‘clean’ plant by Straits Times)

29 Sep 08 – We wrote a letter to the Straits Times to express our concerns about the use of coal by Tuas Power (Tuas Power is building Singapore’s first ‘clean coal’ power plant by AsiaIsGreen)

4 Oct 09 – A short edited version of our letter was published in the Straits Times Forum

15 Oct 09 – Tuas Power, National Environment Agency (NEA) and Energy Market Authority (EMA) replied to our letter (Tuas ‘clean’ coal plant balances cost and green concerns)

15 Oct 09 – We wrote a reply letter to the Straits Times

16 Oct 09 – We published the reply letter (Update on Tuas Power’s clean coal plant by AsiaIsGreen)

20 Oct 09 – We are told that Straits Times will not be publishing our reply letter

20 Oct 09 – We wrote an email to NEA, EMA and Tuas Power

1 Nov 09 – NEA and EMA replied to our email

4 Nov 09 – We published our email and the response by NEA and EMA (Update on Tuas Power’s clean coal plant (part 2) by AsiaIsGreen)

6 Jan 09 – Tuas Power to delay plans for the clean coal/biomass plant by 6-12 months (Projects melt, Jurong Island feels the heat by Business Times)

4 Nov 09 – Tuas Power decided to go ahead with building the clean coal/biomass cogeneration plant on Jurong Island (Stalled $2b plant set to steam ahead by Business Times)

7 Nov 09 – We sent an email to Tuas Power with some questions to clarify details in the Business Times article

11 Nov 09 – Official ground-breaking of the clean coal/biomass cogeneration plant, which will be completed in 2 phases – part of the plant ready by 2012 and the rest by 2014 (Construction of clean coal/biomass plant on Jurong Island begins)

8 Dec 09 – We received Tuas Power’s reply to our email questions via Ogilvy, their PR representative

Here’s the full list of our questions and Tuas Power’s answers (the quotes refer to the Business Times article):

1) Does the clean coal/biomass plant have a 2,670-MW-capacity?

The Biomass Clean Coal plant will generate 160 MW of electricity, out of which 60MW will be consumed internally.

2) Does the plant use 80% coal and 20% biomass? What is the estimated annual tonnes of coal and biomass used?

Yes. The amount of coal and biomass used (in tonnes) depends on the calorific value of the specific fuel.

3) What is the biomass used? Where is it sourced from?

We will be using palm kernel shells and woodchips. These will be sourced locally as well as from neighbouring regions.

4) Is the coal sourced from Indonesia?

The coal will be sourced from the neighbouring countries in the region.

5) “The ‘top’ ash generated will be reused, while ‘bottom’ ash will be recycled into value-added products such as construction materials.” What would the top ash be reused for? What construction materials are the bottom ash recycled into and who is the company doing the recycling?

The top ash that is generated can be reused as a cement substitute whereas the bottom ash can be recycled into construction materials such as aggregates, bricks and pavers. One of our subsidiaries, NewEarth Singapore, is capable of recycling the ash.

6) “Meanwhile, the carbon-neutral biomass part of Tuas Power’s cogen project will help reduce the CO2 emissions to a level comparable to that of an oil-fired plant.” What is the carbon emission per unit of electricity generation for Tuas Power’s clean coal/biomass plant, and how does it compare to a gas-fired plant?

The Biomass Clean Coal plant is a cogeneration plant that uses Circulating Fluidised Bed Technology to produce electricity and steam. It provides an economically and environmentally sustainable alternative to utility supply, therefore bolstering Singapore’s energy security by further diversifying its energy mix.

7) “Besides, the plant will enjoy 70 per cent operational efficiency versus the 50 per cent efficiency level of today’s combined cycle gas turbine plants. This means the Tuas Power plant will use less resources to produce the same unit of electricity, leading to less carbon emission.” What is the technology used by the clean coal/biomass plant, which makes it more efficient than a combined cycle gas turbine plant? The 50% efficiency of the combined cycle gas turbine plant is based on which fuel source: oil, gas or coal?

In order to achieve higher plant efficiency, the BMCC cogeneration plant is equipped with 3 units of steam turbine-generators to step down high-pressure steam to medium and low-pressure steam suitable for users’ applications. One unit of condensing turbine-generator will produce about 100MW of electricity that will be exported to the Grid. The other 2 units of back pressure turbine-generators, which are embedded generators producing about 60MW of electricity for TMUC’s own use, supplying electricity to TMUC’s other facilities, such as its desalination plant, demineralised water treatment plant and industrial wastewater treatment plant.

The 50% efficiency of the combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant refers to a plant based on gas as fuel.

8) “China Huaneng has also embarked on a couple of cutting-edge carbon-capture pilot plants back in China, and may apply the technology here in future.” When is the timeline, if any, to apply carbon capture technology, and where would the carbon be stored?

We have no plans to apply this technology in Singapore at this point in time. Carbon capture storage technology is still being developed, and we may explore the viability of its application in the future.

9) Has Tuas Power undertaken an environmental impact assessment or life cycle analysis of the clean coal/biomass plant from coal mining, biomass harvesting, coal and biomass delivery, combustion to disposal/recycling?

The Company submitted the Pollution Control Study to the National Environment Agency, which had subsequently granted the approval for the project.

10) Has Tuas Power consulted its stakeholders including potential customers, NGOs and the public on the use of coal and the higher carbon emissions?

Prior to the commencement of the project, consultations with various stakeholders were held.

What are your thoughts?

Do you support the use of clean coal for our energy needs? Is clean coal really clean? Is Tuas Power guilty of greenwashing? We leave it to you to decide.

Image credit: Tuas Power

Venue: ISEAS Seminar Room II

Speaker: Mr Lee Boon Siong, Honorary President and Director, Poh Ern Shih Temple

The Poh Ern Shih Temple (Temple of Thanksgiving), built in 1954, is an ecologically friendly Buddhist temple located at Chwee Chian Hill, off Pasir Panjang Road, Singapore. In 2000, the Directors decided that the temple had to be redesigned to deal with the rising costs of water, electricity and an over-dependence on fossil fuel. It was noted that environmental degradation had been increasing over the decades and that adopting ecologically friendly technologies was the way to go in the age of rising global temperatures and climate change.

This seminar will focus on Poh Ern Shih Temple’s efforts to protect the environment. The temple takes advantage of Singapore’s abundant sunlight to produce: (i) Electricity by employing three different kinds of solar energy cells – Polycrystalline, Monocrystalline and Amorphous Cells (ii) Hotwater from Solar Heat Collector Cells in Solar Panels, and (iii) Night Lighting of its landscaping and common corridors with batteries charged by electricity collected from hybrid sets of wind/solar energy units.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s abundant rainfall has made it possible to (i) Irrigate the temple grounds (ii) Generate electricity via the deployment of Micro Hydrogenerators for charging the batteries of in-house motorized wheelchairs and lighting for its landscaping and common corridors as well as (iii) Conserve, collect and convert the rainwater to drinkable water by deploying Reverse Osmosis Techonology in Portable Filtration/UV Units available overseas in the event of natural disasters.

Finally, the temple is able to leverage on the abundance of a renewable resource, bamboo, (i) to reduce the culling of our valuable forests by deploying bamboo for all the temple’s new furniture wherever possible since it is readily available from neighbouring states and is a 5-year renewable resource as compared to a 100 year old or 300 year old oak or teak tree and (ii) to reduce the pollution from the steel industries, by making all its in-house new wheelchairs from bamboo.

For details and registration, visit the ISEAS website.

Source: ISEAS

We like PURE for its easy reading and attractive design, and also the fact that it manages to “educate” on water issues and conservation through a fun lifestyle approach, unlike other typical government publications. For its approach, PURE was given an Honourable Mention in the category of Corporate Publications in the Asia Pacific PR Awards 2008.

For the latest issue and onwards, PURE will be published on recycled paper and printed using soy inks. It’s also smaller in size. Get your copy today at selected MRT stations, public libraries and schools. You can also subscribe to the e-copy of PURE by sending an email with your name and date of birth to pub_pure@pub.gov.sg. You can download past issues of PURE here.

We feel that besides PUB’s technology advancements and the multiple awards won over the last five years, PUB has also been great in public awareness and water campaigns. All thanks to the PUB’s all-female communications team. They deserve their winning of the overall Grand Prize in London in the Golden World Awards for Excellence 2008 for their communications programme. And they should serve as an example of how the civil service can and should better communicate their programmes and campaigns.

The Institute of Water Policy (IWP) is organising a Water Policy Dialogue on 25 June 2009 at the National University of Singapore, Bukit Timah Campus. If you’re interested in attending, pls register your attendance with IWP at iwplkyspp@nus.edu.sg. There will be a series of speakers covering the following themes:

1. Water Policy Dialogue | Water Governance

9.30 am – 2.00 pm

The Auditorium

2. Asian Water Review | Patterns, Achievements and Challenges

2.00 pm – 3.30 pm

Manasseh Meyer Building Room 3-1

3. Good Practices for Urban Water Management in Asia

3.50 pm – 5.30 pm

Manasseh Meyer Building Room 3-1

Beijing, China – In the summer of 2007 a thick toxic blanket of blue-green algae covered Tai Lake (Taihu) in Jiangsu province. The government earmarked billions of renminbi to clean it up but next year the same thing happened again. What is going wrong?

The problem is the intense amounts of chemical fertilisers in use.

These leak into the lake and are one of the main causes of poisonous algal blooms.

Unless farmers start using less chemical fertilisers and start practicing eco-agriculture China’s lakes and rivers will continue to be poisoned.

Year after year.

Fertiliser use just keeps on growing

The government ran a nationwide program (2005 to 2007) to reduce fertiliser use, but Greenpeace has found that many farmers have in fact increased the amount of chemical fertilisers they use despite this initiative.

We tested the water in Tai Lake last year to see if the pollution problem had eased.

Of the 25 water samples we examined, 20 of them had such high concentrations of nitrogen and nitrates (found in fertilisers) that they were not safe for human use. They were even too polluted to be used to water plants or in factories.

Besides farmers around the lake told us they were now using twice as much fertiliser as they were using 10 years ago.

The government-run program tests soil and advises farmers on which kinds and how much fertiliser they should use.

But this is not a solution to the pollution problem because it recommends chemical fertilisers rather than ecological solutions.

And it’s clearly not reducing the amount of fertiliser being used.

In the three years of national soil testing from 2005 to 2007, the total amount of fertiliser use in China increased by about two million tons every year.

China’s water crisis

And it’s not just Tai Lake.

All sorts of water systems in China are being polluted this way. In Inner Mongolia in northern China, Wu Liangsuhai lake is plagued by a serious yellow algal bloom and Chao lake in Anhui province is also poisoned (see slideshow).

While the government has been pouring money into cleaning up Tai lake, little has been done to solve the problem at source.

We want the government to push for a major move from chemical intensive agriculture to eco-farming.

If this doesn’t happen soon, it could be too late to clean up China’s precious water resources.

Source credit: Greenpeace China

The Marina Barrage was officially opened last Friday, together with the launch of the annual Clean and Green Singapore. The new Marina Barrage is a 350-meter wide dam built across the Marina channel, forming Singapore’s first reservoir in the city and our 15th reservoir with a catchment area of one-sixth the size of Singapore.

The Marina Barrage serves several benefits such as increasing our water supply with the Marina Reservoir meeting more than 10% of our current water demand, alleviating flooding in the low-lying areas in the city, and serving as a lifestyle attraction with recreational activities such as windsurfing and kayaking.

We visited the Marina Barrage over the weekend and took some photos:

Bird’s-eye view of the Marina Barrage building (photo of a banner)

View from roof garden

Playing with water in the fountain

Roof garden with excellent view of the Singapore Flyer

Solar park with 405 solar panels generating electricity for the building

Inside the Sustainable Singapore Gallery

Learning about the water history of Singapore in the Gallery

Singapore’s water story from the 1960s to 2000s

Gallery on the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme

Model of the Marina Barrage in operation

The Marina Barrage

Water Wally welcomes visitors

Families and pets enjoying a walk along the Marina Barrage

View of the Marina Barrage building

The gates were lowered to release water from the reservoir to the sea

You can also watch a 30-second short video of the Marina Barrage that we created using the photos.