Home » Blog » Alternative energy – promising market for Singapore
Green and alternative energy are becoming the buzz words of the global economies. The degree of adoption of clean energy is what is setting countries apart and governments world-over are including alternative energy as part of their national agenda. With climate changes and global warming, volatile oil prices and limited oil reserves, the need for alternative energy hasn’t been greater. Environment pollution, traffic congestion and scarcity of natural resources are directly proportionate to the rapid pace of urbanisation – Singapore being no exception to the rule. However, the country has fared well in creating urban solutions for its sustainable development.
It has been the case of “necessity is the mother of invention” in Singapore as far as the emergence of the alternative energy industry is concerned. The country had no other choice but to go green, given its small size, highly urbanised nature and lack of resources. Here are some interesting examples of the green drive in Singapore: Glitzy malls are green savvy, with some even ambitious to be “the most sustainable shopping center in Asia”; the city-state has introduced solar powered charging stations; the country is a test-bed for electric vehicles and the list goes on.
But what is more interesting than all this is the fact that alternative energy in Singapore is big business. It is one of the country’s emerging industries and the Government has marked it as a strategic growth area for its economy in the near future. The Singapore government has pumped in millions of dollars towards R&D, training manpower to meet the industry’s future demands and making a name for itself in the international market. According to the Singapore Economic Development Board’s industry fact-sheet, the clean energy industry is expected to contribute S$1.7 billion to Singapore’s GDP and create 7,000 jobs by the year 2015.
With an ever changing global economy and the recent economic crisis, it is becoming increasingly important for export dependent countries like Singapore to constantly innovate and find newer areas of growth and alternative energy could very well be the next big growth engine.
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