Possible Environmental Crises Facing Singapore and Appropriate Responses: The Case of the Poh Ern Shih Buddhist Temple

September 8, 2009
10:00 am	to	11:30 am

Venue: ISEAS Seminar Room II

Speaker: Mr Lee Boon Siong, Honorary President and Director, Poh Ern Shih Temple

The Poh Ern Shih Temple (Temple of Thanksgiving), built in 1954, is an ecologically friendly Buddhist temple located at Chwee Chian Hill, off Pasir Panjang Road, Singapore. In 2000, the Directors decided that the temple had to be redesigned to deal with the rising costs of water, electricity and an over-dependence on fossil fuel. It was noted that environmental degradation had been increasing over the decades and that adopting ecologically friendly technologies was the way to go in the age of rising global temperatures and climate change.

This seminar will focus on Poh Ern Shih Temple’s efforts to protect the environment. The temple takes advantage of Singapore’s abundant sunlight to produce: (i) Electricity by employing three different kinds of solar energy cells – Polycrystalline, Monocrystalline and Amorphous Cells (ii) Hotwater from Solar Heat Collector Cells in Solar Panels, and (iii) Night Lighting of its landscaping and common corridors with batteries charged by electricity collected from hybrid sets of wind/solar energy units.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s abundant rainfall has made it possible to (i) Irrigate the temple grounds (ii) Generate electricity via the deployment of Micro Hydrogenerators for charging the batteries of in-house motorized wheelchairs and lighting for its landscaping and common corridors as well as (iii) Conserve, collect and convert the rainwater to drinkable water by deploying Reverse Osmosis Techonology in Portable Filtration/UV Units available overseas in the event of natural disasters.

Finally, the temple is able to leverage on the abundance of a renewable resource, bamboo, (i) to reduce the culling of our valuable forests by deploying bamboo for all the temple’s new furniture wherever possible since it is readily available from neighbouring states and is a 5-year renewable resource as compared to a 100 year old or 300 year old oak or teak tree and (ii) to reduce the pollution from the steel industries, by making all its in-house new wheelchairs from bamboo.

For details and registration, visit the ISEAS website.

Source: ISEAS

Nanotechnology for Next Generation Solar Energy

June 9, 2009
10:30 am	to	12:00 pm

Venue: Seminar Room II, ISEAS

Speaker: Mr Jon Brodd, Chairman and CEO, Cima NanoTech, Inc

This seminar discusses the use of nanotechnology and nano materials to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of photovoltaics. For details and registration, visit the ISEAS website.

Green Business Times Interview – Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd

There has been great interest in solar energy in Singapore over the past few years. To understand more about solar energy technologies, issues and trends, we have the privilege of interviewing Mr Christophe Inglin, Managing Director of Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd.

About Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd

Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd (Phoenix Solar) is the Singapore subsidiary of Germany-based Phoenix Solar AG. The company designs, engineers and installs solar photovoltaic power systems for grid-connected and off-grid applications. Since it started operations here in early 2007, Phoenix Solar has secured contracts for over 400kWp of PV systems in Singapore, Malaysia and China. Read more

Singapore’s Solar Challenge

October 22, 2008
10:30 am	to	12:00 pm

Speaker: Mr Christophe Inglin, Managing Director, Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd

Venue: Seminar Room II, ISEAS

This seminar explores whether there is an alternative to Singapore’s reliance on imported oil and the possibility of solar energy in Singapore, including targets, quantities and timeline. Details and registration at the ISEAS website.

Asia’s Largest Solar Power Plant in South Korea

Conergy Korea announced yesterday an agreement for the extension of Asia’s largest solar power plant (currently 19.6 MWp) in SinAn, South Korea, to 24 MWp. The completed 24 MWp solar power plant will cover an area of 720,000 m2 (about 96 soccer fields) and produce 33,000 MWh annually. This energy is sufficient to supply 7,200 households with clean energy annually and will help South Korea reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 24,000 tons a year. Read more

A Guide to Clean Energy Initiatives and Funding by the Singapore Government

Singapore has identified the clean energy industry as a key growth area since Mar 2007. The clean energy industry is expected to “contribute S$1.7 billion to the GDP and create 7,000 jobs by 2015“. To support our vision of a Clean Energy Hub, there are several clean energy initiatives and funding by the government as shown in the list below:

1. Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO)
2. Clean Energy Research and Testbedding Programme (CERT)
3. Clean Energy Research Programme (CERP)
4. Solar Capability Scheme (SCS)
5. Market Development Fund
6. Singapore Initiative in New Energy Technologies (SINERGY) Centre
7. Innovation for Environmental Sustainability (IES) Fund (related funding)
8. MND Research Fund for the Built Environment (related funding)

Read more