May 2009 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

Greenpage
Singapore’s growing green awareness
By Camiel Frijlink
It is no secret that the idea of thinking green has
not yet conquered the hearts and minds of all
Singaporeans: unnecessary freezing temperatures
in air conditioned and poorly isolated buildings, a
separate plastic bag for each item bought in the
supermarket, massive car use instead of public
transport/cycling etc. But current economic and
environmental progresses are leading Singapore
towards green energy. With threat of fossil fuel
scarcity in the coming years, the policy makers are
now realizing the value of promoting renewable
energy and being free from oil dependency.
Harmful effects of these fossil fuels are now being
emphasized and environmental issues on climate
change are making renewable energy a popular
term nowadays.
Hence things are changing rapidly, given the
many green initiatives that are recently launched
or supported by Singaporeans and Singaporean
companies. One of these initiatives concerns
the high energy consuming track lights of the F1
circuit. For Singapore’s 2008 GP, 1,500 custommade
lighting projectors were installed along the
5.067 km street circuit and pit lane to ensure neardaylight
conditions, with a luminosity of 3,000 lux
per lamp. This is about four times brighter than a
typical stadium and thus far from environmental
friendly.
Now the Italian company Valerio Maioli’s Motor
Sports Green Powered (MSGP), in an attempt to
find a greener way to light up the circuit, plans to
set up a centre in Singapore to test new sources
to power the track lights, starting with this year’s
race in September. If successful, the solution
could also be used to reduce energy consumption
in other areas such as pit buildings and temporary
facilities in the circuit park. The equipment needed
for the green test centre is also being sponsored
A ‘greener’ F1 in 2009?
by several Singaporean companies and MSGP is
currently waiting for a location for the test centre,
that yet has to be appointed by the Singaporean
government. The initiative is also supported by F1
president Bernie Ecclestone.
To create more ‘green awareness’ amongst the
Singaporean youth, the Enviromental Challenge
Organisation (ECO) was set up in 2002 (www.ecosingapore.org),
run solely by volunteers. ECO has a
practical approach and, for example, supports the
Things You Can Do - 7 Easy Green Habits project.
This project stimulates taking public transport,
rejecting and reusing plastic bags, turning off
electrical appliances completely instead of standby
mode, cutting down the use of water heaters, using
refillable stationery and changing from air-con
to fan, or setting the air-con temperature at 25
degrees or above.
Don’t know where to find recycling bins? No
worries, Zero Waste Singapore website answers all
your green questions (www.zerowastesg.com). The
website - an initiative of Green Future Solutions, a
Singapore-based business that promotes action for
a green future through internet websites, events,
presentations, publications and consultancy -
even provides the possibility to conduct a ‘waste
audit’.
Another example of the changing attitude
towards environmental issues in Singapore is the
Asian Green Energy Investment Summit, that will
be held in the Sheraton Towers coming 21 and
22 May (http://www.ahrals.com/greenenergy).
The summit will concentrate on international
developments and the latest trends in the Asian
energy sector, aiming to bring Asian policy
regulators, technology developers and investors
within the renewable energy sector toghether.
It will showcase Asian policy frameworks and
identify new developments and challenges faced
by organizations in renewable energy sector.
Green Singaporean projects/joint ventures
can also be found abroad. Recently Keppel Corp,
a Singaporean company and the world’s largest
builder of oil rigs, won a $518-million contract
from Ineos Runcorn to build an energy-from-waste
heat and power plant in Britain. The plant, one of
the largest waste and renewable energy projects
in the United Kingdom, will serve the Greater
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Vol.19 • No. 4 • May 2009