Reader Response Draft #3
In the article, “How Can Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Transition Be Sped Up?” Ha (2019) wrote about energy experts addressing the important issue of clean energy transition in Southeast Asia. He mentioned Moniz, Chief Executive of the Energy Futures and Nuclear Threat Initiative, talking about deploying “low-carbon technologies and solutions” for energy to lower emissions in the ASEAN region. He also mentioned Moniz addressing nuclear fusion or hydrogen power as a substitute for solar and wind power in Singapore due to its lack of natural resources and land. In addition, he mentioned Wong, Group Chief Executive of utilities company Singapore Power, that Southeast Asia must consider both its consumption and production of energy. They should consider new energy sources and ways to reduce energy consumption while maintaining the same lifestyle to comply with the Paris Agreement. The article stated that ASEAN should consider replacing coal to produce energy as it produces the most greenhouse gases. He also mentioned that Moniz proposed to reduce costs in the power, industrial, and transportation sectors to be able to transition towards renewable energy. In terms of energy focus, solar energy is the most promising clean energy source to reduce carbon footprints impacting global warming in Singapore.
Firstly, Singapore has implemented various solar energy methods across the country. In the article, Tan (2021) mentioned that Singapore has deployed the usage of solar panels at Marina Barrage where deployment is expected to quadruple by 2025, with a goal of 1.5 GWp by 2025 and at least 2 GWp by 2030. Tan then mentioned that by 2030, this corresponds to around 350,000 households being powered each year, or about 3% of the total estimated energy usage. This means that Singapore has plans to transition towards using clean energy for the future. In another article, JTC (2020) mentioned that solar panels would be installed along industrial land and rooftops as an initiative towards transitioning to clean energy. The process is intended to provide more than 82MWp of solar energy capacity to the 2030 national goal, supplying over 78,000MWh of electricity to power over 14,600 households and lowering more than 32,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
Secondly, Singapore is known to have a dearth of land. In the article, Tan (2020) mentioned that to solve this issue, developers in Singapore are putting solar PV panels above water bodies. The floating PV systems will be installed in the Bedok and Lower Seletar Reservoirs. Furthermore, Tengeh Reservoir will also see the completion of a massive 60 megawatt-peak (MWp) floating solar PV installation in 2021. The system will surpass those at the Bedok and Lower Seletar Reservoirs by a magnitude of forty times. Tan also mentioned in the article that Solar PV systems are extremely adaptable and could be integrated into the urban environment in a variety of ways. One of the methods is to mount lightweight solar panels onto pedestrian walkways and bus shelters which are commonly found around Singapore. Despite its dearth of land, Singapore, in my opinion, is making the most of every square inch available to maximise the usage of solar panels to convert electricity.
Although using solar energy has its benefits, it still has its limitations. Each solar panel cell is only limited to how much energy it can generate into energy. This makes solar PV alone unable to power the whole of Singapore. In addition, due to Singapore's dense cloud cover and urban shadows, it causes problems like intermittency. This results in Singapore being unable to dependably generate enough baseload electricity from solar energy.
Hence, while solar energy is the solution to reducing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming in Singapore, it has limitations and drawbacks in what it can do in today's world. Despite the setbacks, significant progress is still being achieved every year with the technologies available.
Reference list:
Ha, 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/
JTC. (2020, Apr 20). Singapore Meets Its 2020 Solar Deployment Target. https://www.jtc.gov.sg/about-jtc/news-and-stories/press-releases/singapore-meets-its-2020-solar-deployment-target#:~:text=The%20solar%20installation%20that%20helped,and%20operated%20by%20Sembcorp%20Industries
Tan C, (2020, Aug 20). Commentary: Singapore’s dreams of becoming a solar-powered nation have almost arrived. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/singapore-solar-panel-roof-floating-clean-energy-carbon-emission-717031
Tan, E. (2021, Apr 21). Solar shines as Singapore’s energy alternative; international collaboration is key. The Business Times; The Business Times. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/solar-shines-as-singapores-energy-alternative-international-collaboration-is-key
Firstly, Singapore has implemented various solar energy methods across the country. In the article, Tan (2021) mentioned that Singapore has deployed the usage of solar panels at Marina Barrage where deployment is expected to quadruple by 2025, with a goal of 1.5 GWp by 2025 and at least 2 GWp by 2030. Tan then mentioned that by 2030, this corresponds to around 350,000 households being powered each year, or about 3% of the total estimated energy usage. This means that Singapore has plans to transition towards using clean energy for the future. In another article, JTC (2020) mentioned that solar panels would be installed along industrial land and rooftops as an initiative towards transitioning to clean energy. The process is intended to provide more than 82MWp of solar energy capacity to the 2030 national goal, supplying over 78,000MWh of electricity to power over 14,600 households and lowering more than 32,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
Secondly, Singapore is known to have a dearth of land. In the article, Tan (2020) mentioned that to solve this issue, developers in Singapore are putting solar PV panels above water bodies. The floating PV systems will be installed in the Bedok and Lower Seletar Reservoirs. Furthermore, Tengeh Reservoir will also see the completion of a massive 60 megawatt-peak (MWp) floating solar PV installation in 2021. The system will surpass those at the Bedok and Lower Seletar Reservoirs by a magnitude of forty times. Tan also mentioned in the article that Solar PV systems are extremely adaptable and could be integrated into the urban environment in a variety of ways. One of the methods is to mount lightweight solar panels onto pedestrian walkways and bus shelters which are commonly found around Singapore. Despite its dearth of land, Singapore, in my opinion, is making the most of every square inch available to maximise the usage of solar panels to convert electricity.
Although using solar energy has its benefits, it still has its limitations. Each solar panel cell is only limited to how much energy it can generate into energy. This makes solar PV alone unable to power the whole of Singapore. In addition, due to Singapore's dense cloud cover and urban shadows, it causes problems like intermittency. This results in Singapore being unable to dependably generate enough baseload electricity from solar energy.
Hence, while solar energy is the solution to reducing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming in Singapore, it has limitations and drawbacks in what it can do in today's world. Despite the setbacks, significant progress is still being achieved every year with the technologies available.
Reference list:
Ha, 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/
JTC. (2020, Apr 20). Singapore Meets Its 2020 Solar Deployment Target. https://www.jtc.gov.sg/about-jtc/news-and-stories/press-releases/singapore-meets-its-2020-solar-deployment-target#:~:text=The%20solar%20installation%20that%20helped,and%20operated%20by%20Sembcorp%20Industries
Tan C, (2020, Aug 20). Commentary: Singapore’s dreams of becoming a solar-powered nation have almost arrived. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/singapore-solar-panel-roof-floating-clean-energy-carbon-emission-717031
Tan, E. (2021, Apr 21). Solar shines as Singapore’s energy alternative; international collaboration is key. The Business Times; The Business Times. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/solar-shines-as-singapores-energy-alternative-international-collaboration-is-key
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