Reader Response Draft #1
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, Singapore should consider implementing methods such as solar power and nuclear fusion to reduce carbon footprints impacting global warming.
Firstly, solar energy is the energy obtained by harnessing heat and light from the Sun. However, how much of the sun's energy can actually be converted into useable energy? In the article “Solar shines as Singapore's energy alternative; international collaboration is key” Tan (2021), 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, 2021). 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. In another article, “Singapore Meets Its 2020 Solar Deployment Target” JTC (2020), solar panels would be installed along industrial land and rooftops as an initiative towards transitioning to clean energy. The initiation is expected to provide over 82MWp of solar energy capacity to the 2030 national objective, generating over 78,000MWh of electricity to power over 14,600 households and reducing over 32,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year. Despite its dearth of land, Singapore, in my opinion, is making the most of every square inch available to maximize the usage of solar panels to convert electricity. 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 renewable sources.
Secondly, fusion power has the potential to provide a practically limitless source of energy for future generations, but it also poses significant engineering challenges. The article “Researchers achieve milestone on path toward nuclear fusion energy” CNA (2022) explains why nuclear fusion is not implemented in Singapore. Kritcher, Lead Designer for the experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory mentioned that each experiment only lasted about 10 billionths of a second, with fusion production lasting 100 trillionths of a second. This demonstrates how difficult it is for humanity to comprehend nuclear fusion as an energy source with the advanced technology available. On top of that, Zylstra, an experimental physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory mentioned that nuclear fusion, in his assessment, faces a decadal-scale hurdle to become a viable source of energy. Despite the results, Zylstra said he is encouraged by the approach since it is a hugely complex technological problem that would require a huge amount of investment and ingenuity to make it practical and cost-effective.
Finally, while clean energy is the solution to reducing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, both energy sources are limited in what they can do in today's world. Despite the setbacks, progress is still being achieved every year with the technologies available.
Reference List:
Daubach, T. (2019, July 19). How can Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Transition be sped up? Eco-Business. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://www.eco-business.com/news/how-can-southeast-asias-clean-energy-transition-be-sped-up/
Tan, E. (2021). Solar shines as Singapore's energy alternative; international collaboration is key. The Business Time. Retrieved Feburary 6, 2022, from https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/solar-shines-as-singapores-energy-alternative-international-collaboration-is-key
Singapore Meets Its 2020 Solar Deployment Target (2020). JTC. Retrieved Feburary 6, 2022 from 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
Researchers achieve milestone on path toward nuclear fusion energy (2022). CNA. Retrieved Feburary 6, 2022, from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/researchers-achieve-milestone-path-toward-nuclear-fusion-energy-2461976
Firstly, solar energy is the energy obtained by harnessing heat and light from the Sun. However, how much of the sun's energy can actually be converted into useable energy? In the article “Solar shines as Singapore's energy alternative; international collaboration is key” Tan (2021), 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, 2021). 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. In another article, “Singapore Meets Its 2020 Solar Deployment Target” JTC (2020), solar panels would be installed along industrial land and rooftops as an initiative towards transitioning to clean energy. The initiation is expected to provide over 82MWp of solar energy capacity to the 2030 national objective, generating over 78,000MWh of electricity to power over 14,600 households and reducing over 32,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year. Despite its dearth of land, Singapore, in my opinion, is making the most of every square inch available to maximize the usage of solar panels to convert electricity. 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 renewable sources.
Secondly, fusion power has the potential to provide a practically limitless source of energy for future generations, but it also poses significant engineering challenges. The article “Researchers achieve milestone on path toward nuclear fusion energy” CNA (2022) explains why nuclear fusion is not implemented in Singapore. Kritcher, Lead Designer for the experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory mentioned that each experiment only lasted about 10 billionths of a second, with fusion production lasting 100 trillionths of a second. This demonstrates how difficult it is for humanity to comprehend nuclear fusion as an energy source with the advanced technology available. On top of that, Zylstra, an experimental physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory mentioned that nuclear fusion, in his assessment, faces a decadal-scale hurdle to become a viable source of energy. Despite the results, Zylstra said he is encouraged by the approach since it is a hugely complex technological problem that would require a huge amount of investment and ingenuity to make it practical and cost-effective.
Finally, while clean energy is the solution to reducing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, both energy sources are limited in what they can do in today's world. Despite the setbacks, progress is still being achieved every year with the technologies available.
Daubach, T. (2019, July 19). How can Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Transition be sped up? Eco-Business. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://www.eco-business.com/news/how-can-southeast-asias-clean-energy-transition-be-sped-up/
Tan, E. (2021). Solar shines as Singapore's energy alternative; international collaboration is key. The Business Time. Retrieved Feburary 6, 2022, from https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/solar-shines-as-singapores-energy-alternative-international-collaboration-is-key
Singapore Meets Its 2020 Solar Deployment Target (2020). JTC. Retrieved Feburary 6, 2022 from 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
Researchers achieve milestone on path toward nuclear fusion energy (2022). CNA. Retrieved Feburary 6, 2022, from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/researchers-achieve-milestone-path-toward-nuclear-fusion-energy-2461976
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