2006 Clean & Green Week campaign targets climate change

Climate change will be the focus of this year's Clean and Green Week. Now into its 17th year, it will see youths as the target group. To raise awareness on the importance of recycling and conserving resources, students of Republic Polytechnic - one of the National Environment Agency's (NEA) partners in this year's campaign - are hoping to collect some 10,000 of plastic bottles. The plastic bottles will eventually be turned into installation art to give a visual impact on the extent of wastage if they are not recycled. It is also to impress upon students that every small individual effort will collectively have an impact on the environment.

The NEA also plans to rope in youths in curbing energy consumption and therefore the emission of carbon dioxide, especially at home. Over the last 10 years, the rate of carbon dioxide emission here has risen by 25%. NEA says the biggest culprits in energy consumption are air-conditioners and refrigerators, which take up about 40-65% of the average household's electricity bill. By taking simple steps like setting the air-conditioning from 21 to 25 degrees Celsius, households can cut down electricity use and subsequently carbon dioxide emission. This year's Clean and Green Week will be officially launched on November 5 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

- It is good that gov.sg is reaching out to educate the younger ones. It will act as a counter to the culture of wasteful consumerism.

One of the highlights of last year's campaign was a photo exhibition along Orchard Road. That was interesting. This year, there are multiple events happening in this timeframe : this year's Clean & Green Week campaign, the opening of Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth in local cinemas, and an Eco-Products Fair next week.

EU plans tough laws on energy efficiency

peakoil.com -> ft.com :

Wasteful television standby settings and the energy efficiency of computers and water heaters are to be targeted in a new legislative drive aimed at slicing 100bn euros a year from the European Union's energy bill. Stringent new European Commission energy efficiency targets for items such as electrical appliances and cars could set new global standards, since all imports into the European market would have to comply.

Andris Piebalgs, EU energy commissioner, will announce that he wants to put the bloc on course for a 20% energy saving by 2020. From next year he wants to implement directives setting down minimum energy performance requirements for 14 priority products, including boilers, computers, washing machines, office lighting and air conditioning. His plan says "special attention will be devoted to standby loss reduction" – a reference to the power-consuming standby modes on televisions and other appliances.

The proposed regulations would impose European energy efficiency standards on any company seeking access to the EU's 480m consumers, including US manufacturers. European standards and norms in the car sector and mobile telephony have already become accepted in many countries worldwide, to the annoyance of Washington, which believes the EU sets too many rules.

Hybrid train in Europe

peakoil.com -> business.guardian.co.uk :

Trials will start next year on what is being billed as Europe's first hybrid high-speed train, which can cut emission levels by up to 50%. The system, which has been developed by Hitachi in Japan, consists of a battery-assisted diesel-electric traction engine. The traction unit uses the battery when the train is at rest and in the early stages of acceleration up to around 30 kilometres an hour (19mph), at which point the conventional diesel engine kicks in.

According to Hitachi, tests in Japan have shown that the hybrid system can cut harmful emissions by up to 50% and fuel bills by a fifth. Emission levels and fuel costs are increasingly important factors in the rail industry. UK trials will start in April and are expected to last six months. Hitachi said the system has been developed and tested since 2003 and is now in production for a Japanese customer.

(2006-10-26 00:07:02 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Indonesia pushes for geothermal renewal

Indonesia is literally sitting on top of the solution for its energy needs: vast reservoirs of hot water deep beneath the earth's crust can be harnessed to generate electricity. It's a clean, renewable energy source. Yet the country continues to import millions of barrels of oil and fuel annually. Legal uncertainties, financial risks and government bureaucracy have repelled international investors from developing its geothermal resources. Tapping geothermal energy makes sense for a cash-strapped government that still subsidizes fuel for its citizens, who are steadily demanding more power in the face of routine blackouts and brownouts.

The sprawling archipelago sits on what is believed to be the world's largest geothermal resource base, with the potential to provide 21,000 megawatts - enough to supply all the energy needs for its 220 million people. But so far existing plants have a combined capacity of just over 800 megawatts, or 4 percent of Indonesia's potential, putting it behind the United States (2,100 MW), the Philippines (1,775 MW) and Mexico (975 MW).

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono renewed pledges to promote alternative energy sources, but industry experts say price remains a huge obstacle. Though long-term costs are low, the technology requires an upfront investment of more than $100 million. Because the energy must be used close to its source - unlike coal or oil, which can be exported - what a company gets for its electricity is key. "Sooner or later we have to develop geothermal," Sugiharto Harsoprayitno, director of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources' geothermal department said. "It's not the sole solution to our energy problems, but it would certainly help."