HDB: Two Steps Ahead Towards Sustainable Public Housing In Singapore

As the public housing authority that houses over 80% of Singapore’s population, HDB has a key role to play in supporting Singapore’s commitment to sustainable development. Today, HDB made further progress with two key initiatives:

a) Procurement of 1MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) panels worth about $2.3 million from the Renewable Energy Corporation (REC). This is by far the single largest solar panel procurement in Singapore to date. The solar panels will be implemented at six HDB precincts covering about 3,000 residential units; and

b) Collaboration with Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM) to develop a modeling tool to quantify and formulate a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) on sustainability environmental targets in developing Punggol as an Eco-Town for the tropics. This will enable a more effective design for sustainability, and support HDB’s planning efforts to enhance resource efficiency and livability within Punggol Eco-Town. Read more

SIEW 2009: Clean Energy Expo Asia 2009

The Clean Energy Expo Asia (CEEA) trade fair and conference was held last week, and brought together leading players in the various clean enery sectors, to discuss the challenges and opportunities in developing clean energy technologies and to explore the role of energy efficiency in a viable clean energy future. Around 71 exhibitors, 80 speakers, and 2,000 participants from over 20 countries were at the trade fair and conference. CEEA is jointly organized by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) and Koelnmesse and is part of the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW).

Opening Addresses

In his address, Edwin Khew, Chairman of SEAS, shared a new initiative launched by the Asian Development Bank called the Energy For All or E4ALL. This is a partnership between the Bank and the private sector and NGOs, to promote capacity building, clean energy and energy efficiency technology, support, carbon management and project financing through sustainable energy associations in each of the Asia Pacific countries within the E4ALL program.

In his address, David Tan, Deputy Chief Executive of the Energy Market Authority (EMA), announced that EMA will launch a call for an Expression of Interest (EOI) on 20 November, to invite companies to submit proposals to design, build and operate an Intelligent Micro-grid with Clean and Renewable Energy Technologies on Pulau Ubin.

There is currently no power grid to supply electricity to the 100 residents in Pulau Ubin and they use their own diesel generators for electricity. EMA intends to develop 5 interconnected micro-grids serving the north, south, east, west and jetty regions of the island in the future. The micro-grids will rely on renewable energy such as solar PV, concentrated solar power, micro-wind turbines, and biofuels.

The implementation project will start with a small-scale, intelligent micro-grid at the jetty area to integrate the different clean energy technologies and ensure the reliability and quality of the electricity supply. The current annual energy consumption at the jetty area is about 460 MWh, and the current loads include the offices of the National Parks Board, the Police Coast Guard Office, the Ubin Lodge, the Singtel mobile base station, and a small number of residential premises and businesses at the jetty area.

Trade Fair

Here are some photos of clean energy technologies taken at the trade fair:

Smart Environments – Monitor, optimise and visualise using intelligent sensors linked to an open platform

Using Daylight

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

Different Solar Panels

Cylindrical Solar Panels

Solar and Wind Powered Streetlights

LED Streetlight

Electric Bicycle

IKEA is Planning to Sell Solar Panels and Clean Tech Products

It’s always interesting to visit an IKEA store and discover the wide range of furniture and home solutions. The inspirational design and low prices of the products is amazing. In the near future, you might even find solar panels and green tech products at IKEA.

According to the Cleantech Group, IKEA plans to invest €50 million in clean tech startups over the next five years and develop clean tech products in the following areas: solar panels, alternative light sources, product materials, energy efficiency, and water saving and purification.

Johan Stenebo, Managing Director of IKEA GreenTech, said that the clean tech products will be similar to other IKEA products:

Really low prices, and they should be of very good quality. That’s the only thing we look at, we would never look at anything else, we would discard anything else that doesn’t fall into those boundaries

The next time you’re at IKEA, remember to shop for solar panels, clean and green products for your home.

For companies that provide green products in Singapore, better watch out for the Swedish giant and get ready. IKEA is able to shift consumer behaviour towards green products through its low prices and quality design. For other big local retailers, what are you waiting for?

Source: Cleantech Group. Image credit: 小猫王.