Singapore has two key strategies to reduce its use of energy and resulting greenhouse gas emissions – (1) switch to natural gas, which is one of the cleaner fuels, and (2) improve energy efficiency (National Environmental Agency, 2014)a.
Singapore has switched to using more than 80% of natural gas in generating electricity for the country, in comparison to 19% in year 2000 (National Climate Change Secretariat, 2013)a. However, this must be viewed in light of the fact that only 11% of Singapore’s energy needs are met by natural gas, meaning that Singapore is still highly dependent on oil for meeting its other energy needs (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2014)b.
Singapore has sought to improve its energy efficiency in several ways. An example is the Energy Conservation Act (ECA) implemented in April 2013. The ECA contains various regulations for industries as well as electronic products sold. With regards to electronic products sold, the ECA requires that these products meet a minimum standard of energy efficiency via mandatory energy labeling. This mandatory label assists customers in making more informed decisions when purchasing products. Also, the mandatory label increases competition among companies to make products that are more energy efficient, as each company would want their products to get a better energy efficiency rating than other companies. An example of the mandatory energy label is shown below.
Retrieved from: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/images/default-source/default-album/how-to-read-the-energy-label.jpg?sfvrsn=0
Another measure that Singapore has taken, is to reduce its reliance on natural gas imports from only Malaysia and Indonesia, an LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal was set up on Jurong Island in 2013 (Mulchand, 2013). This allows Singapore to diversify its supply of natural gas by importing LNG from other countries.