SINGAPORE GOVT TARGETS ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Improving energy efficiency is the key strategy in Singapore’s whole-of-government efforts to cut down on carbon emissions.
The Singaporean government has reported a decrease of 8 per cent in energy intensity between 2005 to 2009.This statement was made by Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources of Singapore, in a recent speech.
“We will need to continue our efforts to meet our target, under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint, to reduce Singapore’s energy intensity by 35% from 2005 levels by 2030,” said Ibrahim.
“Like water, energy is a critical resource for Singapore. We have limited access to alternative energy sources such as geothermal and wind energy. Our small physical size also constrains how much we can rely on solar energy,” he added.
Ibrahim said that energy is a critical resource for small country like Singapore that has limited access to alternative energy resources such as geothermal, solar and wind energy.
The Minister said the collaboration of government, businesses and the community will ensure that this target will be met.
At present, all information technology (IT) equipment acquired by public agencies in the country must meet the latest Energy Standards to ensure their maximum energy efficiency.
“We are encouraging public agencies to install or retrofit their buildings with more efficient chiller systems, as these account for the largest part of a building’s energy use,” he said.
The government is enacting a bill, the Energy Conservation Act, later this year to require energy management practices inside the country.
In support of the bill, Singapore’s National Energy Agency (NEA), Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the Economic Development Board (EDB) held a joint release of the Energy Efficiency National Partnership (EENP) to aid organisations in developing energy management capabilities.
The EDB has also partnered with the National University of Singapore (NUS) to form the Singapore Certified Energy Manager (SCEM) programme that offers energy managers of organisations with the capability to manage energy use in their organisations more effectively.
“We target to train 1000 energy managers by 2013,” said Ibrahim.
NEA has provided an SCEM Training Grant to co-fund up to 80% of SCEM professional level course fees.
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