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12. Singapore’s Solar Challenge
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
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272 Christophe Inglin 12 SINGAPORE’S SOLAR CHALLENGE Christophe Inglin ABSTRACT Being rich in resources seems to breed complacency and suppress the urge for progress. What countries like Singapore have to rely on instead is human ingenuity — it is our key resource and our main competitive advantage. We turned the threat of water shortage to our advantage, using it to spur innovation and set the goal of self-sufficiency in water. With energy, however, our story is much more mediocre. Although energy prices have been on the rise, as a nation we still behave like irredeemable energy addicts. Singapore’s electricity consumption exhibits the same pattern as our car purchases. Per capita electricity consumption has more than doubled since 1986. Nearly half of that demand comes from the buildings we live and work in, while 44 per cent is from industry. Our combined roof space, exposed façades, and open expressways add up to around 100 square kilometres. If we covered all that with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, we could generate around one-third of our current electricity consumption. Energy efficiency is a vital prerequisite to self-sufficiency. Air-conditioning, combined with sloppy building design, has much to answer for in terms of squandered electricity. How can we replicate our success with water treatment in the field of solar energy? We must aim for world-leading capabilities that we can export internationally. So far, the leaders (Japan, Germany, the United States, Spain, and Korea) are all in temperate climates. Singapore can pioneer tropical applications for PV. 12 Energy Issues Ch 12 7/12/10, 3:57 PM 272 Singapore’s Solar Challenge 273 INTRODUCTION As many have pointed out, we in Singapore live on a small island — christened by our southern neighbours as “a little red dot”. We have no conventional natural resources to speak of. Many might consider that a disadvantage. But actually we are lucky not to have been cursed with abundant natural resources, such as exist in Indonesia, Africa, or even Australia. For being rich in resources seems to breed complacency and suppress the urge for progress. What countries like ours have to rely on instead is human ingenuity — it is our key resource and our main competitive advantage. Until recently, however, we behaved as if water was one of our natural resources. Thanks to two historic agreements with our colonial sibling Johor, Singapore enjoyed abundant cheap water, piped from across the Causeway. LEADERSHIP IN WATER TECHNOLOGY — BORN OF DESPERATION At the turn of the last century, we faced the prospect of renegotiating those contracts under far less favourable conditions. What to do? We turned a threat to our advantage, using it to spur innovation and set the goal of water self-sufficiency. Let the first agreement expire in 2011 — there was nothing like a bit of desperation to drive creative passion! Once that imperative was decided upon, it was interesting to observe how supporting policies and strategies fell easily into place: • We have two-tier domestic water rates, to discourage excessive consumption without penalizing basic needs; • We developed NEWater and pumped more funds into R&D; • We expanded our water catchment area and simultaneously improved flood control by constructing the Marina Barrage, which is quite a feat of engineering; • To get the general public more enthusiastic, the Public Utilities Board ramped up its ABC (Active, Beautiful, and Clean) master plan to transform our waterways into dual purpose infrastructure — lifeline and lifestyle; • And we revised the arcane legislation that forbade residents from harvesting rainwater falling on their private property. All this investment is now paying off in the form of undisputed expertise in water management, with Singaporean companies such as Hyflux and Keppel securing lucrative international water treatment contracts. 12 Energy Issues Ch 12 7/12/10, 3:57 PM 273 [44.200.174.157] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 14:20 GMT) 274 Christophe Inglin Figure 12.1 Rising Petrol Prices have Little Effect on Car Engine Capacity Source : Derived based on Price Indices of Selected Consumer Item, Base Year 2004=100 (Petrol, Intermediate) from Singapore Department of Statistics. 12 Energy Issues Ch 12 7/12/10, 3:57 PM 274 Singapore’s Solar Challenge 275 UNRESTRAINED THIRST FOR ENERGY — DESPITE THE LACK OF NATURAL RESOURCES With energy, however, our story is much more mediocre. Yes, we have sensibly plucked the low-hanging fruit by converting most of our oil-fired power stations to natural gas. In 2008 Senoko Power received the President’s Award for the...