Green Issues for Singapore General Elections 2011 – #1 Coal

A series of green issues that could be discussed at the Singapore General Elections 2011. The first issue (not in order of importance) is on the use of coal.

What are the political parties’ stand on the use of coal in Singapore and the implications on our carbon emissions target and our clean and green image?

Tuas Power’s coal plant

Read the chronology of the clean coal and biomass cogeneration plant by Tuas Power.

Tuas Power’s new coal and biomass plant at Jurong Island would start operations mid next year, and the company has signed a contract with Indonesia’s PT Bayan Resources to supply 13.36 million tonnes of sub-bituminous coal over the next 15 years from Kalimantan, and has also struck a deal with South Korea’s Samtam Co Ltd to supply coal. Tuas Power is also concluding a deal for the palm kernel, which makes up the 20% biomass component of the plant feedstock (the other 80% is coal).

If a calculation is done only for the coal supplied by PT Bayan Resources, and excluding the coal from Samtam Co Ltd and the palm biomass, the combustion of 13.36 million tonnes of sub-bituminous coal would emit about 24 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s calculation tool). Read more

Clean Coal and Biomass Cogeneration Plant by Tuas Power: A Chronology

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) Read more

Generating your own electricity at home using cogeneration

Imagine generating your own electricity at home using natural gas. In Japan, Honda has introduced cogeneration units for homes. These units run on natural gas to generate electricity and also make use of the exhaust heat to provide hot water. The cogeneration unit is highly energy efficient and reduces carbon emissions.

Currently in Singapore, electricity is generated at the power plants and transmitted to homes, leading to some energy loss due to the transmission. If we could generate electricity at our own homes using the cogeneration units, it could reduce those energy loss. But we also have to consider the energy spent to transport natural gas to homes and compare it with the reduction in energy loss to assess whether it is energy efficient to make the switch.

Read more about Honda’s cogeneration units from the Honda website or from the Japan for Sustainability article below. 

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50,000 Honda Residential Cogeneration Units Installed in Japan

At a press conference on July 18, 2007, Mr. Takeo Fukui, president and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., stated that about 50,000 Honda compact residential-use cogeneration units have been installed in Japan since they were first put on the market in 2003. He also noted that the company started selling the cogenerators in the United States in March 2007. Honda has been stepping up its environmental efforts as one of three strategies for future growth. Promoting the cogeneration unit is part of its commitment to the environment.

Honda cogeneration units run on natural gas and generate electricity for home use while utilizing the exhaust heat from the gas engine to provide hot water. The unit has been marketed through gas utility companies in Japan under the brand name “ECOWILL.” According to data released by Honda the day before the press conference, the total energy efficiency of the unit is as high as 85.5 percent. Installation of the 50,000 ECOWILL units has potentially reduced carbon dioxide emissions by about 42,000 tons per year, equivalent to the amount that would be absorbed by three million trees.

In the U.S., the system is called “Freewatt,” includes the Honda cogeneration unit and exhaust-heat hot-water heater and is being sold by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and Climate Energy, LLC.

Source credit: Japan for Sustainability.