Why is a very rich country like Singapore doing so badly in decarbonising. They should be ahead of the game.
Why is a very rich country like Singapore doing so badly in decarbonising. They should be ahead of the game.
Why is a very rich country like Singapore doing so badly in decarbonising. They should be ahead of the game.
https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/
@singapore
Renewables (solar, wind) need a lot of land, which Singapore lacks. Nuclear is iffy because, safe as it is, one meltdown = destruction of the entire country. No geothermal or hydro resources available.
Singapore's best bet, really, is to pay neighbouring countries to generate renewable energy on its behalf. Then you get into the issue that Southeast Asia is a lot less developed and hence further behind on decarbonization.
@cyd that’s interesting, and some insightful thoughts. Still they could put solar on roofs though that would hardly make them self-sufficient.
@geoffpetty @cyd there are efforts to increase use of solar. Eg floating solar farms on our reservoirs https://www.pub.gov.sg/sustainability/solar/floatingsystems
If Singapore has the will, there are safe ways to get a nuclear power plant operating in Singapore. I wouldn't trust a commercial entity to do it, and I would rather that it is built as a state-owned, state-run government facility.
Singapore paying other nations to produce electricity that is clean is just like automotive clean energy credits all over again. There's nothing to it but penalty and Singapore should be better off building the nuclear power plant or investing in more clean energy solutions.
Anyways, we are in a geographically stable area far from earthquake zones. If we dig deep enough, we might be able to get geothermal working. But it might not be economical.
I suppose one reason why we're so rich in the first place is our openness to Big Oil, and the general reliance on the car in our society
We're pro-business, and decarbonizing is nothing but bad for business. Lip service only. It's up to you to pay 5c for plastic bags tho.
Corpos, friend. They follow money, not ethics. And rich people in Singapore tend to be corpos (as in every other country).