Sustainability: Towards Net Zero


Date: 5 October, Thursday
Time: 9.00am – 11.00am

Synopsis


This session considers how Net Zero is a multi-sectorial effort, with speakers sharing perspectives from policy-makers' as well as practitioners’ viewpoints in the Singapore context.

 
 

About the Speakers

 

Mr Toh Wee Khiang resized

Toh Wee Khiang - Singapore Energy Transition (~1.13MB)

SPEAKER
Mr Toh Wee Khiang
Director
Hydrogen & Sustainable Energies Office
Energy Market Authority (EMA)  

Wee Khiang is currently the Director of the National Energy Transformation Office (NETO), a department within the Energy Market Authority (EMA). NETO works across different government agencies and coordinates research, development and demonstration funding, enabling the adoption of transformational energy solutions. Some of NETO’s key focus areas are solar as well as low carbon energy technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation & storage.  

 

Topic: Singapore Energy Transition


Mr Toh will give an overview on how the power sector is navigating through the energy transition to meet its climate goal of achieving net zero by 2050.

 

Mr Ridzuan Ismail resized

Ridzuan Ismail - PUB’s efforts towards net zero (~2.14MB)

SPEAKER
Mr Ridzuan Ismail
Director
Water Supply Network Department
Public Utilities Board (PUB)

Mr Ridzuan Ismail was the Director of Water Supply Network Department in PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, responsible for the planning, operations and maintenance of the water supply network in Singapore, so as to ensure efficient and continuous supply of good water to all its customers. Prior to this appointment, Ridzuan was involved in catchment and reservoir management as well as the development of the drainage and used water infrastructure. Since 1 July 2023, he has taken on the role as the Chief Sustainability Officer and Director of the Policy & Planning Department, tasked to oversee PUB’s sustainability efforts and strategic policy and planning work.

 

Topic: PUB’s efforts towards net zero


As part of PUB’s efforts towards net zero, the agency has adopted a 3R strategy to mitigate increasing energy and carbon emission arising from a projected increase in water demand in Singapore. Learn more about it in this session.

 

Mr Jonathan Lim resized

SPEAKER
Mr Jonathan Lim
Sustainability Lead
Pan-United Corporation Ltd

Jonathan Lim is the Sustainability Lead at Pan-United to research and spearhead innovative sustainable technologies in the ready-mix concrete industry.

In 2019, Jonathan was a key member of the team that successfully used Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) technology to embed industrial CO2 in ready-mixed concrete, making Pan-United the first concrete company in Asia to introduce carbon mineralised concrete to the construction industry.

Jonathan also played a key role to secure Pan-United as Singapore's first to offer on-demand Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for ready-mix concrete as well as certification of numerous green concrete products.

 

Topic: Reducing Embodied Carbon using Low-Carbon Concrete Technologies


Embodied carbon refers to the carbon dioxide emitted during the stages of construction before a building is completed. This includes the production of raw materials such as cement, the production of concrete, transportation of materials and the onsite construction of the building. Embodied carbon cannot be mitigated once a building commences operations.

Without targeted actions, embodied carbon is expected to surpass the operating carbon emissions of buildings in the coming decades. The market is going through a green transition with the adoption of CCU technology to produce CO2 mineralised concrete. This product traps waste CO2 within concrete and achieves the same levels of durability, workability and performance. The urgent need to reduce embodied carbon starts in the stages before onsite construction commences. The design and selection of low-carbon building materials can make a great impact on the whole life carbon of a new building project. Learn more about embodied carbon and the use of low-carbon concrete technologies in this session.

 

Mr Nuno Marinho resized

Nuno Marinho - Navigating Innovation, Opportunities, and Challenges (~1.90MB)

SPEAKER
Mr Nuno Marinho
Head of Innovation and R&D
EDP Renewables APAC

Nuno Marinho leads the Innovation and R&D department at EDPR APAC, where his team scouts for new growth opportunities in the domains of renewables, storage, and green H2. Before coming to Singapore, Nuno was working for EDP NEW, where he led a research team focusing on Flexibility, Renewables Integration and green H2. Prior to EDP, Nuno worked as a researcher for EDF R&D in economic and technical analysis of energy systems, including power system's regulation operation and planning, and grid integration of storage and renewable energy. Nuno holds a Master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Portugal and a PhD degree from CentraleSupélec, Paris, France.

 

Navigating innovation opportunities and challenges


The speaker will share experiences from various innovation projects in Singapore, such as our first utility-scale energy storage testbed and Pulau Ubin microgrid, including steps taken to align research objectives with commercial outcomes, manage stakeholders, and overcome regulatory hurdles. He will also share about EDP’s efforts to drive innovation internally and globally across the industry.

 

Er Tan Seng Chuan

Er Tan Seng Chuan - Financing Net-Zero Transition (~2.22MB)

SPEAKER
Er Tan Seng Chuan
Managing Director
TEMBUSU Asia Consulting

Er Tan currently serves as the Managing Director of Tembusu Asia Consulting Pte Ltd, a leading sustainability consultancy company in Asia. He is also the Emeritus President of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) where he served as President from 2006 to 2008. He went on to serve as President of the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP) from 2007 till 2011, and Chairman of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Engineers Coordinating Committee and member of the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) Governing Board from 2015 to 2019. He now serves as Executive Vice President of World Federation of Engineering Organisation (WFEO) and Chairman of Chartered Engineering Board, Singapore.

 

Topic: Financing Net-Zero Transition


In recent years, governments in Southeast Asia have significantly amplified efforts to decarbonise, aiming to undertake substantial climate action while concurrently pursuing economic growth and the Net-Zero Transition.  In view of this challenge, both governments and corporations have assumed leadership roles in stimulating climate capital and directing it towards the region, fostering the necessary environment to facilitate this transformative change and its consequential impact. It is projected that the average annual demand for green financing in Asia will reach approximately US$200 billion by 2030. With the continuous growth of the region's green finance market, abundant opportunities exist within the private sector.

 

In this presentation, Er. Tan will delve into the financing instruments that promote resilient growth, the sustainable finance policies and landscape in the region, and opportunities for green financing. Additionally, he will share his recent experience in assisting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on their decarbonisation journey and sustainable transactions. 

 

 

Dr Lee Yinjin resized

SPEAKER
Dr Lee Yinjin
Scientist, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech)
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Dr Lee Yinjin is a Scientist at A*STAR, SIMTech. She received her PhD in Engineering Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and BS in Chemical & Biological Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She publishes on corporate sustainability management, carbon footprint calculations, and consumer behavior towards sustainable products. Notably, she published in the Handbook of Business and Climate Change and co-authored the State of Supply Chain Sustainability 2020 report by MIT, the first of an annual report series. She taught graduate-level supply chain management courses at MIT and MITx, MIT’s online education platform. Currently, she develops Green CompassTM and helps organizations adopt it. She is a working group member of the Singapore Standard for Environmentally Sustainable Organisations. Her research focuses on applying quantitative and qualitative data-driven methods to help organizations and consumers act sustainably.

 

Topic: Transform your business: Environmental Sustainability through Green Compass


A major barrier for organisations to act sustainably is the lack of awareness of activities that can improve their sustainability performance while creating business value. The Green CompassTM methodology was developed to address this. It helps organizations develop improvement plans based on their sustainability maturity level while considering cost and value creation. Organisations first assess their environmental sustainability performance across their operations, supply network, and product life cycles. Next, they prioritise issues relevant to their businesses and chart their improvement plans. Green CompassTM was developed through a collaboration between A*STAR, TÜV SÜD, and JTC.