Sun Cable Update - 29 Mar 2025 "It's a Go! Again!"

Video: Singapore needs this Mega Project to work

In 2021, Singapore revealed that it was in discussion with an Australian Consortium to harvest solar power in the Northern desert of Australia, and send the electric power 4200 km to Singapore. 

Lies about Ocean Plastic

[First Drafted 28 Sept 2024]

 Video: You are being lied to about Ocean Plastic

1:49 It's the fishing industry

3:57 The Garbage Patch in the Pacific is not as big a problem as Coastal Plastic Pollution

5:24 It's not littering

Sumatran Squall, 17 Sept 2024

 A report on the Sumatra Squall that struck Singapore on 17 Sept.

CNA Explains: What is a Sumatra squall and how did it bring a sudden storm to Singapore?

What are the characteristics of a Sumatra squall? How often does it occur and how bad can it get? CNA speaks to weather experts.

Singapore looks to build first-of-its-kind renewable energy farm in waters around Raffles Lighthouse

Raffles Lighthouse on Pulau Satumu, the southernmost islet in Singapore waters. (Photo: Chew Hui Min)

The energy generated could be used to charge electric harbour craft, in line with upcoming requirements to decarbonise the maritime industry.

Jeraldine Yap
Louisa Tang

09 Aug 2024 



SINGAPORE: A renewable energy farm could be built in the waters around Raffles Lighthouse, with a feasibility study expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) told CNA that it has earmarked 30ha around the island and is looking into installing solar panels above the sea surface and tidal turbines underwater.

Observers said it would be the first facility in Singapore to combine harnessing energy from the sun as well as tides on a large scale.

CNA Explains: Singapore's energy sources and the future of its electricity supply

Why does Singapore need to import its electricity? Why can't it just rely on solar power?

Gabrielle Andres

07 Feb 2023

SINGAPORE: Where Singapore gets its electricity from has been in the headlines in recent months, with the announcement that the country will import electricity from Malaysia and the opening of the largest energy storage system in Southeast Asia on Jurong Island.

Last Monday (Jan 30), it was announced that Singapore will import 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Malaysia as part of a two-year trial, under a joint agreement between YTL PowerSeraya and TNB Genco.

PUB partnering UCLA and American startup to build world’s largest ocean-based carbon dioxide removal plant in Tuas

A rendering of an ocean-based carbon dioxide removal plant.

PUB, Singapore's national water agency PUB, is teaming up with an American university and startup to build the world's largest plant that will remove carbon dioxide from seawater and the atmosphere
When fully completed, the plant in Tuas — named Equatic-1 — will be equipped to remove 10 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per day from seawater and the atmosphere
This is more than 100 times the amount a trial plant has been able to remove

SHYNN ONG

February 27, 2024


SINGAPORE — Singapore's national water agency PUB is teaming up with the University of California (UCLA) and a UCLA-linked startup to build the world's largest plant that removes carbon dioxide from seawater and the atmosphere.

A warmer Singapore could spell trouble for its tourism industry, say experts

To mitigate the effects of the heat, various tourist attractions have put in place initiatives to keep people and places cool.

FILE: Tourists shield themselves with umbrellas on a hot day at the Merlion Park in Singapore on Jun 21, 2017.
(Photo: REUTERS/Edgar Su)

Nadirah Zaidi
Darrelle Ng

16 Jan 2024

SINGAPORE: A warmer and wetter Singapore could dampen the appeal of the nation as a tourist destination, experts warned. 

Full of beans: scientists use processed coffee grounds to make stronger concrete

Australian engineers say they can make concrete nearly 30% stronger by incorporating processed grounds into the material

Donna Lu

Tue 22 Aug 2023


In an idea that fittingly arose over a cup of coffee, researchers have devised a technique to recycle used coffee grounds to make stronger concrete.

Engineers at RMIT University say they have developed a way to make concrete nearly 30% stronger by incorporating processed coffee grounds into the material.

Samples of unroasted coffee beans, roasted coffee beans, spent ground coffee and the team’s coffee biochar.
Photograph: Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University

Singapore digs deep to unleash geothermal energy potential

17 Aug 2022

But the volumetric extent of hot rock where geothermal can be sourced is unknown.

First published online at Asian Power

Unlike Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan, Singapore has no known shallow heat source. That is why the country exerted more efforts to unearth its geothermal potential to diversify its energy sources. It turned out that its geothermal potential could cover a sizable portion of Singapore’s energy mix, an expert said.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) in April [2022] issued a request for information to conduct a geophysical investigation project to assess the country’s geothermal energy potential. The EMA said that progress in technologies such as the Advanced Geothermal Systems enabled the extraction of heat from hot dry rock and at greater depths, opening the potential for geothermal applications locally as the country is within a region of high subsurface heat flow.

“If found to have substantial geothermal resource potential, Singapore could consider the technology options available to deploy geothermal energy locally,” it said.

Why Indonesia remains one of the world’s worst places to fly

DECEMBER 8, 2015
[Note. Old new report.]

SINGAPORE — A faulty component, a poor maintenance regime, bad weather, a critical mistake, a communication failure, 162 people dead.

The loss of AirAsia Flight 8501 on a stormy December morning a year ago, from an airline that previously had an excellent safety record, came as a shock, even in a country with one of the world’s worst aviation records.

This was a relatively new plane, captained by a pilot with a decade of experience in the air force and more than 9,000 hours flying commercial jets. Yet interviews with pilots, air traffic controllers, flight trainers and regulators show that the combination of mistakes and failures that doomed those on board show why Indonesia still has more than three times the global average rate of fatal air crashes.

In the past few years, Indonesia has redoubled efforts to improve that record, but the challenges are enormous. The country has a shortage of skilled pilots, ground crew and air traffic controllers. Equipment and planes are often outdated or not working. Many of its 296 airports are under par or have runways that are too short. And the terrain of 17,000 islands, dotted with volcanoes, makes for some of the most treacherous flying conditions in the world.

Sun Cable Update (Jan 2023)

Singapore-based Sun Cable collapses, stalling Australia-to-Asia solar power project

A 4,200km undersea cable promises to deliver vast amounts of clean energy to Singapore.
(Image: Sun Cable)

11 Jan 2023

Singapore-based Sun Cable is going into voluntary administration, the clean energy firm said on Wednesday (Jan 11), months after billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes took on the role of chairman.

The company is aiming to develop a A$30 billion-plus (S$27.6 billion) project to supply solar power from Australia to Singapore, with the backing of tech billionaire and climate activist Cannon-Brookes and the richest man Down Under Andrew Forrest...

New MIT system could cool buildings up to 10℃— without electricity

The system worked three times better than today’s state-of-the-art passive cooling system.

By Sam Jarman

October 13, 2022


As the world’s climate continues to heat up, the global demand for air conditioning is now skyrocketing. In 2019, the need for cooling drew in 8.5% of the world’s total electricity consumption, equating to some 1 billion tons of CO2 emissions.

As more air conditioning units draw ever more power each year, we now appear trapped in a cycle, only accelerating the problem of global heating further.

Resilience, self-sufficiency important but world will be worse off if we go too far: Lawrence Wong

Shipping containers seen at PSA Tanjong Pagar Terminal. (File Photo: CNA/Calvin Oh)

Yasmin Begum

14 Nov 2022 

SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Sunday (Nov 13) said that resilience and self-sufficiency are important attributes, but added that the world will be worse off if countries go too far.

At the evening reception for participants of the 17th Asia-Pacific Conference (APK) of German Business, Mr Wong noted that part of the desire of wanting to have greater resilience is about having more reliable networks.

This, Mr Wong said, meant complying fully with all international rules and obligations. 

Greenwashing: UN experts at COP27: Corporate climate pledges rife with greenwashing

09 Nov 2022 

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: Promises by companies, banks and cities to achieve net zero emissions often amount to little more than greenwashing, according to a UN expert group report published on Tuesday (Nov 8), which set out proposed new standards to harden net zero claims.

The report, released at the COP 27 climate conference in Egypt, is intended to draw a "red line" around false claims of progress in the fight against global warming that can confuse investors and policy makers.

Global warming palpable for 96% of humans: Study

The researchers' tool measures the likelihood that unusually warm weather at a specific location on any given day
is due to climate change (Photo: AFP/Asaad NIAZI)

28 Oct 2022 

PARIS: Whether they realised it or not, some 7.6 billion people - 96 per cent of humanity - felt global warming's impact on temperatures over the last 12 months, researchers have said.

But some regions felt it far more sharply and frequently than others, according to a report based on peer-reviewed methods from Climate Central, a climate science think tank.

People in tropical regions and on small islands surrounded by heat-absorbing oceans were disproportionately impacted by human-induced temperature increases to which they barely contributed.

Only 5% of plastic waste generated by US last year was recycled, report says

Americans discarded 51m tons of plastic in 2021 – of which almost 95% ended up in landfills, oceans or scattered in the atmosphere

Not a single type of plastic packaging in the US meets the definition of recyclable used by either the FTC or
the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s new plastic economy initiative. Photograph: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

Nina Lakhani 

Mon 24 Oct 2022

Only 5% of the mountains of plastic waste generated by US households last year was recycled, according to new research by Greenpeace.

Americans discarded 51m tons of wrappers, bottles and bags in 2021 – about 309lb of plastic per person – of which almost 95% ended up in landfills, oceans or scattered in the atmosphere in tiny toxic particles.

The plastics problem is not just down to wanton consumerism or laziness – in fact the situation would still be bad even if every household separated every piece of plastic and disposed of it in a dedicated recycling plant, according to Greenpeace.

Not a single type of plastic packaging in the US meets the definition of recyclable used by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s new plastic economy initiative, the report found.

Relocation of otters from Seletar was 'last resort' given the presence of pups and location of burrow: Experts

Setting up barriers to prevent the otters from accessing private estates and ponds is still a critical first measure, said experts.

Otters at Seletar estate in Singapore. (Photo: Otter Working Group/Marjorie Chong)

Koh Wan Ting

18 Oct 2022

SINGAPORE: The otters that were relocated from Seletar had been moved as a last resort due to the location of their burrow and the presence of pups.

Experts who spoke to CNA on Tuesday (Oct 18) said that exclusion measures – setting up barriers that would prevent otters from accessing compounds or fish ponds – remained a priority.

Last week, the family of six smooth-coated otters – three adults and three pups – were moved to an undisclosed area where they could access their natural food sources, the National Parks Board (NParks) said on Monday.

The authorities carried out the operation with other members of the Otter Working Group, which includes the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), Mandai Wildlife Group, National University of Singapore (NUS), OtterCity, and OtterWatch.

Consumers could pay refundable deposit of 10-20 cents for plastic, metal drink containers under NEA's plan to cut waste

Nuria Ling/TODAY

• To boost recycling rates, NEA is proposing a scheme that requires consumers to pay 10 to 20 cents more for pre-packaged plastic or metal beverages
• The agency is getting feedback from the public from Sept 20 to Oct 14 on the scheme, which could be rolled out in mid-2024
• Under the scheme, consumers would have to return their beverage containers either over-the-counter or at reverse vending machines to claim their deposit back
• The operator of the scheme will be required to achieve a target of at least 80 per cent return rate

NAVENE ELANGOVAN

September 21, 2022


SINGAPORE — From mid-2024, consumers may have to pay an extra 10 to 20 cents as a deposit for drinks in plastic bottles or metal cans, on top of the retail price, which they can get back by taking the container to a return point such as a supermarket, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Tuesday (Sept 20).

NEA is seeking public feedback on this proposal, which is aimed at boosting recycling rates, reducing waste disposed of and reducing carbon emissions as part of the effort to tackle climate change. 

Plastic Recycling Doesn’t Work and Will Never Work

If the plastics industry is following the tobacco industry’s playbook, it may never admit to the failure of plastics recycling.

By Judith Enck and Jan Dell

The Atlantic

MAY 30, 2022

About the authors: Judith Enck is a former EPA regional administrator, the president of Beyond Plastics, and a visiting professor at Bennington College. Jan Dell is a chemical engineer and the founder of the Last Beach Cleanup.


Americans support recycling. We do too. But although some materials can be effectively recycled and safely made from recycled content, plastics cannot. Plastic recycling does not work and will never work. The United States in 2021 had a dismal recycling rate of about 5 percent for post-consumer plastic waste, down from a high of 9.5 percent in 2014, when the U.S. exported millions of tons of plastic waste to China and counted it as recycled—even though much of it wasn’t.

Recycling in general can be an effective way to reclaim natural material resources. The U.S.’s high recycling rate of paper, 68 percent, proves this point. The problem with recycling plastic lies not with the concept or process but with the material itself.

Cock-a-doodle-don't: Sin Ming resident spends $7,000 on soundproof windows to block out roosters' crowing

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

CHING SHI JIE

Xu shared that her family had installed soundproof windows to prevent the roosters from disturbing their sleep. 
Shin Min Daily News

How far would you go to get a good night's sleep?

One woman, fed up with roosters' crowing under her block for years, recently spent a large sum of money on soundproof windows so she'd get some peace at night.

58-year-old Xu said that the number of roosters appearing under her block along Sin Ming Avenue has increased over the past three years, Shin Min Daily News reported on Tuesday (Sept 13).

There are now more than 20 free-roaming chicken in the estate, the frustrated housewife said.

"They would fly up to the trees and crow at 2 or 3am. Closing the doors and windows didn't help [to block out the noise].