In
the article “How can Southeast Asia’s clean energy transition be sped up?”, Daubach
(2019) states the challenges Southeast Asia faces in regards to transiting
towards clean energy and how to speed up the use of it. The article discuss
that Southeast Asia is a diverse region with economies growing at different
speeds. Therefore, a single approach will not be adequate in progressing
towards a clean energy future; customized solutions are advised. Daubach
mentions that in order to proceed with the transition, usage of low-carbon
technologies needs to be increased. However, some methods suggested like the
use of nuclear fusion are not affordable for Singapore. In addition, it is
observed that countries like Singapore consume a large amount of energy, and
needs to look at new energy sources, together with lessening the usage of
energy whilst preserving the same habits. While Daubach believes that Southeast
Asia will be at risk of global warming if coal usage is not being cut off
completely, I believe that countries like Singapore could implement alternative
methods such as solar and waste energy to reduce carbon footprints impacting to
climate change.
Despite
the lack of resources available in Singapore, the usage of solar is one of the
more feasible renewable energy for Singapore to reduce the risk of global
warming. Deployment of solar is targeted to quadrupled by 2025, working towards
deploying 1.5 GWp, and at least 2GWp by 2030 (Tan, 2021). According to Ngiam,
chief executive of Energy Market Authority, in the last quarter of 2020, the
installation of existing solar energy systems has increased to close to seven
times in the past 5 years, hence contributing to close to 1 percent of
Singapore’s electricity demands (Tan, 2021). Thus, Singapore is on the right
track in transiting to the usage of cleaner energy to reduce global warming. In
order to lessen the inconsistency of solar energy produced due to the tropical
climate, the excess energy will be stored in the Energy Storage Systems (ESS) which
can power more than 200 4-room HDB households for a day (CNA, 2020). By using
the ESS, it facilitates the country to consolidate a large amount of
sustainable energy into the country’s electricity grid which can be used in the
future. Singapore has targeted to deploy a large-scale solar installation in
HDB blocks to gain judgement for future developments.
In
addition, according to the article “Harvest green energy through energy
recovery from waste”, Singapore can use waste energy to solve waste management
problems and yet supply sustainable energy, killing two birds with one stone.
In this aspect, Singapore has worked around it, resulting in 2% of electricity
demands contributed by Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) (Tong, H. et al. 2018). MSW
includes everyday items we use and disposes of them away from such as paper,
cardboard, food waste, animal manure, which are considered to be carbon-neutral
and environmentally friendly. Since the amount of carbon dioxide produced
during the decomposition of MSW is being eliminated by using it for
photosynthesis, it is generally not associated with the contribution of global
warming.
Although
implementation of solar draws advantages in reducing carbon footprints, it also
poses some disadvantages to the environment. According to iSwitch (n.d), the
production of solar panels produces nitrogen trifluoride which is a type of
greenhouse gas that is more than a thousand times influential to global warming
as compared to carbon dioxide. Henceforth, I feel that even though the usage of
solar reduces carbon footprints, to produce the solar panel itself for usage
would have already done damage to the environment.
All
in all, with Singapore setting goals for the future into transiting towards
clean energy via alternatives method available, it is still essential for the
country to also consider the pros and cons of each of the methods so as to
achieve desirable results. In my
opinion, even though Singapore is known as just a “little red dot” on the map,
efforts and contributions made by the country will still impact greatly on a
global scale.
Reference List
Channel
News Asia (2020, October 22). Singapore deploys energy storage systems to
help maintain reliable source of solar power supply. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/energy-storage-system-first-utility-scale-deployed-ema-1339826
Daubach,
T. (2019, July 19). How can Southeast Asia's clean energy transition be sped
up? Eco-Business.
https://www.eco-business.com/news/how-can-southeast-asias-clean-energy-transition-be-sped-up/.
iSwitch
(n.d). Solar energy pros & cons: what you need to know. https://iswitch.com.sg/solar-energy-pros-cons/
National
Climate Change Secretariat (2021, August 13). Singapore’s approach to
alternative energy. https://www.nccs.gov.sg/singapores-climate-action/singapore-approach-to-alternative-energy/
Tan,
E. (2021, April 28). Solar shines as Singapore's energy alternative;
international collaboration is key. The Business Time. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/solar-shines-as-singapores-energy-alternative-international-collaboration-is-key
Tong,
H., Yao, Z., Lim, J. W., Mao, L., Zhang, J., Tian, S. G., Peng, Y. H., Wang,
C.-H., & Tong, Y. W. (2018). Harvest green energy through energy
recovery from waste: A technology review and an assessment of Singapore. https://www.sciencedirect.com.singaporetech.remotexs.co/science/article/pii/S1364032118306580
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