SEMINAR
Speaker Christophe Inglin is Managing Director of Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd, which designs and installs solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems. From December 1996 until June 2006 he was Managing Director of Shell Solar Pte Ltd (formerly Siemens Showa Solar). Christophe also chairs the Clean Energy Committee at the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS). He is the invited trainer for PV technology courses held regularly at Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Building & Construction Authority (BCA). Before moving to Singapore, Christophe worked for Siemens Semiconductors and Siemens Management Consulting in Munich, California and Zurich. Christophe is Singapore Permanent Resident, with Swiss and British nationalities. He has a BSc in Electronic & Electrical Engineering, and an MBA from INSEAD. Abstract Conventional practice has been for us to import all our fuels, because conventional wisdom has been that Singapore has no natural resources, and energy from fossil fuels has so far remained relatively cheap. But that might soon change, forcing us to rethink our energy policies. Fossil fuels are finite. So are nuclear fuels. The question is not if they will run out, but when. Prices will escalate as we compete against bigger neighbours for ever scarcer supplies. Do we have an alternative? The expiry in 2011 of Malaysia’s 1961 agreement to supply cheap water to Singapore provided the trigger for us to develop our strategy of water self-sufficiency. Do we need an equivalent prospect of non-renewal of fuel supply to prod Singapore into energy independence? What if we pre-empt that scenario, by setting ourselves a clear target for renewable energy supply? Solar energy is our most obvious natural fuel resource. Just how much of Singapore’s needs can it meet, and by when?
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