Gpa December 2011 Digital

PURCHASING
ASIA
OPPORTUNITIES: Watch out for
South Korea
CASE STUDIES: Mud house for
modern green living
PEOPLE: Nobuo Tanaka talks about
global energy in the 21st century
EDITORIAL: Mammoth opportunities
in megacities
INFO: Power play in ASEAN
cooperation
DECEME 2011 Issue 7
PP172/1lU3l2U12 (U25/55} MCA (P} 256lU7l2U11
7
32
38
46
48
MALAYSA RM15.5U. SNCAPDRE S5.5U. RUNE 5.5U. DTHER CDUNTRES: y subscrIpIIon only
Tianjin rises
Worlds largest
integrated eco-city
takes shape
9 772231
ISSN 2231-8135
813001
07
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OPPORTUNITIES 7
Watch out for South Korea 7
China accelerates 8
investment in smart grid
How a US company 10
supplies Chinas
solar industry
Contents
Worlds largest eco-city 14
takes shape
From wasteland to 18
multi-billion real estate
Location is king, even 21
for eco-cities
Opportunities in 23
green retrotting
existing cities
Sunway focuses on 25
health & sustainability
Magnet for pace-setting 27
Asian builders
Keppel takes broad-based 28
strategic position
Project attracts a cluster 29
of global giants
From the 5
managing editors desk
Buy into a green future 6
State Grid to
invest US$250
billion to build
smart grid
infrastructure
in the next
four years
By 2015, the
country aims
to be a net
exporter of
clean energy
We have high
expectations and
we are condent it
will deliver.
Lin Xue Feng,
ECAC vice-chairman
We are on track
to have a basic
community by
September 2013.
Ho Tong Yen,
SSTEC CEO
cover
Tianjin takes shape
(see pages 1230)
cover
Tianjin takes shape
(see pages 1230)
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo u
Mud house for 32
modern green living
Carbon challenge for 34
Iskandar Malaysia
CASE STUDIES 32
EDITORIAL 44
INFORMATION 48
Power play in 48
ASEAN cooperation
Clearing the air over 50
carbon bottomlines
Biomassive potential 52
in China
Reaching worldwide via 53
cleantech alliances
Road to Rio+20 littered 54
with controversy
Geothermal bubbling up 56
Chinas energy chain
US$300 house challenge 57
draws global response
News briefs 60
Homework 64
PEOPLE 36
Future-proong 36
our planet
Sustainability out 44
of the box
Hard-nose tactics for 45
soft selling
Mammoth opportunities 46
in megacities
Innovators home in 47
on energy
w
w
w
.
s
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o
n
o
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.
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Many of the
companies
that are at the
top of green
rankings may
not even exist
in ten years.
John Elkington,
co-founder,
SustainAbility
One country
cannot enhance
its energy
security
by risking
somebody
elses.
Nobuo Tanaka,
former IEA chief
We hope to
reward utilities
for reducing
costs and
improving
services.
Ahmad Fauzi Hasan,
CEO Energy
Commission,
Malaysia
Failure is not an
option we must
use Rio+20 to
guide us towards
a sustainable
world it is the
future we want.
Sha Zukang,
Rio+20 secretary-
general
Global energy 38
in the 21st century
Balancing the 40
energy equation
Photovoltaic panel
for night lighting
Thatch or
reused
metal roof
Recycled glass
bottles for
interior light
Light upper wall
material: mesh
reinforced straw wattle,
bamboo and woven
grass, or conventional
compressed earth blocks
(CEB)
Mosquito
netting over
beds for health
Solid base walls
of inexpensive
reinforced earthbag
with earthen or
lime paster
Benches and base walls
of water-resistant gravel
bags with lime plaster
Rebar security
grid at window
Rainwater
collection
system
Biosand or
solar UV water
ltration
Solar
cooker
US$300 house
(see page 57)
of a personal brieng by the local
government on what TBNA is. For
starters, the model of TBNA takes up
the whole oor of the local government
building! The opportunities that lie in
TBNA are immense, and the eco-city
is but a small enclave within this super
growth area.
In writing the package of stories
that form our cover, I looked at the
eco-city project as a huge business
ecosystem led by the eco-city admin-
istrative committee (ECAC) and the
master developer (SSTEC), that in-
volves some of the biggest developers
in Asia. Further down the value chain,
we have the suppliers, the technology
players, and the SMEs who want to
ride on this high-prole project.
We thank the ECAC, the SSTEC,
Sunway Group and all those who
helped make this cover package
possible. Without them, the project
would still be lost in the thick KIV le.
We also hope those who are involved
in eco-city projects will take home
from this issue some interesting and
truly practical ideas that dont drive up
project costs.
The rst residents of this eco-city
are expected to move in by the second
half of next year, and we hope to be
there again to record the building
of the basic community. The built
environment (the hardware) is just
one aspect of the city. What is equally
important is the software, the people
who help make an eco-city sustainably
green.
Next issue:
Asia, the next solar frontier
Burdened with excess capacity, the solar industry has started placing their stakes
in Asian countries that have or are introducing feed-in tariff schemes. Solar
energy rst took root in the least sunny places on earth; the next decade will
witness its long overdue large-scale advent to sunny Asia.
This months cover is a project close
to my heart. From conceptualisation
to execution, it also had the longest
gestation period of all our themed
editorial projects so far. At 19 pages,
it is the biggest package that we have
put together.
When I took on the job of creat-
ing content for this magazine almost a
year ago, I was a newbie to the world
of eco-cities, green buildings and
renewables and a latecomer to the cli-
mate change discourse. In surng the
internet for content ideas, among the
stories that caught my attention was
that on the Tianjin Eco-City project in
China. I led it under KIV for develop-
ment under the subject category of
Eco-Cities, noting that top Malaysian
developer Sunway Group was involved.
After our rst couple of issues
were published, my publisher/editor
Lim Siang Jin and I had lunch with
Sunway founder and chairman Tan Sri
Jeffrey Cheah and several of his top
executives. One thing led to another,
and in late September, both of us ew
to Tianjin where we spent ve days
(including an unscheduled visit to the
Great Wall of China where we discov-
ered that our knee joints and stamina
were not what they used to be).
The study tour of Tianjin Eco-City
was an eye-opener of sorts on at least
two counts. The rst was that what is
written in websites and blogs may not
necessarily be what you see on the
ground. And also, artist impressions
can play all sorts of tricks on your
mind. If you expect a sci- setting for
this eco-city, youll be disappointed.
The second was the Tianjin-Binhai
New Area (TBNA), where this eco-city
is located. We were given the honour
From the managing editors desk
David Lee Boon Siew
boonsiew@
greenpurchasingasia.com
Editorial
Editor: Lim Siang Jin
Managing editor: David Lee Boon Siew
Assistant editor: Siaw Mei Li
Contributing editors: Ann Teoh, Jason Tan
Contributing writers: Eleanor Chen, G Danapal,
Stephen Ng, Bhavani Prakash, Suvarna Beesetti,
Tan Su-Yin, VK Shashikumar, Mallika Naguran,
Jennifer Neoh Tan
Columnists: Shel Horowitz, Khoo Hock Aun,
Prasad Modak
Marketing & sales
Manager: Yong Wang Ching +6012 205 7928
Lim Wan Tsau (Singapore) +65 9068 0184
Email: marketing@greenpurchasingasia.com
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Khoo Kay Hong, Faye Phua Szeu Hwui
Production & advertising tra c
Eddy Yap
Subscription & circulation
Jessica Lee, Yap Eng Jin
Finance & operations
Kym Chong
Corporate
Managing director: Lim Siang Jin
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Letters and articles are welcome, and
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Disclaimer
Briomedia Green Sdn Bhd (924679-H) believes that the
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gy, like eco-cities, solar farms and
waste recovery projects in large
plantations. In these articles,
we will list out the names
and contacts of developers, sup-
pliers and contractors involved
in those projects for networking.
Weightage: 30%
People: This section focuses on
interviews with thought leaders
and captains of industry in green
businesses. We will also cover
small and medium enterprises
involved in trailblazing projects.
Weightage: 15%
Editorials: Opinion pieces,
columns and feature stories
on climate change, sustainable
development and other relevant
subject matters are the meat
of this section. It is designed to
provoke debate, so that by talk-
ing about issues, we think of new
ways and approaches to solving
problems. Weightage: 15%
Information: This includes news
digest, events calendar, letters,
reviews of books and reports on
climate change, green technology
or related topics, market entry
conditions and new country regu-
lations, policies and incentives.
Weightage: 10%
Target readership
The governments role is not only
to set the policy environment to
drive the green agenda. It is also a
massive market player in the econ-
omy, accounting for up to 30% of
purchases. Any decision by govern-
ments to procure green will have a
major inuence on the market.
It is this dual role that makes
governments important customers,
which is why we are targeting 40%
of our print and online circulation
at senior government servants.
The remaining 60% will be aimed
at the business community, inter-
national agencies and non-govern-
ment organisations.
Green Purchasing Asias main pur-
pose is to provide a well-structured
avenue of immediately-useful
information to buyers and sellers
of green products and services in
major sectors, especially in Asia,
and to buttress the development
of a business community around it.
The magazine will cover the
following sectors, which have seen
the greatest technological innova-
tions and increasing economies
of scale:
Renewable energy, including
solar energy, wind power, geo-
thermal and mobile applications
Biofuels from food and non-food
sources, including palm oil,
sugarcane corn and jatropha
Biomass from various organic,
inorganic and mixed sources
like oil palm, wood, sugar cane,
corn and household waste
Green buildings and eco-cities
covering, among others, green
building certication pro-
grammes, environmentally sound
building design and materials,
retrots, and resource-saving
technology
Transportation, including plug-
in electric vehicles (EV), hybrid
electric vehicles (HEV) and auto-
mobile alternatives like rail
Smart grids, which turn consum-
ers into producers of energy,
smart meters to track consump-
tion and manage electrical ow
and new interconnect standards
Water and waste management,
focusing on desalination technol-
ogy, reverse osmosis and
wastewater and solid waste
management
Energy e ciency, whereby
technologies, processes, materi-
als and design work together
to maximise quality of life and
industry output at minimal
energy cost
Green nance, viz, venture
capital and bank loans, grant pro-
grammes (NGOs and government)
and government incentives.
To help readers navigate the maga-
zine easily, we have divided it into
ve broad areas, each assigned a
weightage to ensure consistent and
adequate editorial space allocation.
Opportunities: These include
project announcements, ten-
ders and new eco products and
services. This will be a section
heavy on actionable information.
Weightage: 30%
Case studies: We focus on
projects that use green technolo-
PURCHASING
ASIA
zxtnNzn
Buy into a green future
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo z
South Korea is the country to watch as
Asia ramps up its momentum of growth
in cleantech industries. Its renewable
energy capacity grew by 88% from
2005 to 2010, a steep increase that
is bettered only by China at 106%,
according to Bloombergs new energy
nance report.
The countrys targets are
ambitious. It intends to boost its
market share in the global green
technology market from 2% to 10%
in 2020. Its total investment in the
renewable energy space in 2010 was
US$356 million, primarily in wind and
solar technologies.
By 2015, South Korea hopes to
earn its place among the top ve coun-
tries in the renewable energy sector in
addition to becoming a net exporter
of clean energy. The South Korean
government has given out tariff and
tax exemptions for penetration of these
technologies and there is a bigger
focus in organising the industries to
cater to its markets as well as emerg-
ing demands. Thats the difference
between what South Korea is doing
and what others are doing, says Ravi
Krishnaswamy, Frost & Sulllivans
vice-president for energy practice.
Watch out for South Korea
South Korea hopes to be among the top ve countries in renewables sector by 2015
Energy storage technology, including fuel cells, expected to gallop ahead
immediate to mid-term focus, he says.
Looking at the huge market
potential of superior technologies for
next generation energy supply, the
South Korean government intends to
invest heavily in fuel cells, gas-to-liquid
(GTL) or coal-to-liquid (CTL), integrat-
ed gasication combined cycle (IGCC),
carbon capture and storage (CCS), and
energy storage technologies.
Key trends
Bent on becoming a net exporter in
the energy sector, South Korea will
push stimulus funding and incentives
boosting the cleantech industries, in
particular solar and wind. Small and
medium enterprises will play a critical
role in developing and advancing this
new wave.
Energy storage technology is
expected to gallop ahead, keeping pace
with the growth in other renewables
sectors, while IGCC is to become
an important part of South Koreas
energy portfolio by 2020. Smart grids,
set to benet from an expenditure of
about US$100 billion, will become
commonplace by 2030.
By supporting this growth, Korea
will become an important producer of
clean energy products and services
such as solar panels, wind turbines,
storage devices and others. More
training and education in this area will
be offered, along with greater R&D
spend.
According to Krishnaswamy, glob-
al investment in clean energy dipped
in 2009 but rebounded sharply in 2010
to the tune of US$243 billion a 30%
Speaking at the companys Global
Community of Growth, Innovation &
Leadership Congress in Singapore
in October, Krishnaswamy says
nine major technology clusters have
been chosen for the accelerated
development of green energy industry,
based on market potential, technology
competency, and urgency.
These technologies are grouped
under short- to long-term focus. Solar,
wind, LED and smart grid come under
Charged-up companies
Frost &
Sullivan vice
president, Ravi
Krishnaswamy
By Mallika Naguran
Samsung: Dominant player among
Korean conglomerates with its current
interest in solar, wind, LED, fuel cell
and energy storage. A report from The
Economist states that Samsung will take
the lead based on two factors new
environmental rules that favour the
use of solar power, LED lighting and
electric cars and exploding demand
in emerging markets such as medical
devices and biotech drugs.
88% thats
the growth in South Koreas
renewable energy capacity
from 2005 to 2010
It intends to invest US$20 billion
in ve elds: PV panels, LED lighting,
medical devices, biotech drugs and
batteries for electric vehicles. The giant
predicts sales of more than US$40
billion in these hot new areas against
target sales of US$400 billion by 2020.
LG: Will be market leader of solar, smart
grid and energy storage.
Hyundai Heavy Industries: Will be major
player in smart grid, as well as wind and
solar
Doosan Heavy Industries: Sole provider
of GTL/CTL technology in South Korea.
It joins six other providers of wind
technology: Dongkuk S&C, Unison,
Hyosung, Hanjin and Hyundai and
Samsung. Doosan and Samsung are the
only fuel cell technology developers.
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China accelerates
investment in smart grid
Seventy-four pilot substations being set up, 20 already operating
State Grid, covering 88% of China, to have 90 GW wind, 8 GW solar by 2015
that the company plans to invest
some 1.6 trillion yuan (about US$250
billion) in the construction of the grid
between now and 2015. The goal is
to have a s afe and secure smart grid
by 2020, with an ultra high voltage
(UHV) synchronous grid at its centre,
coordinated development of UHV AC/
DC grids at different levels, and wide-
range, large-scale, high-efciency
allocation of energy resources. In
addition to the UHV backbone grid,
plans include the establishment of
2,950 new electric vehicle charging
stations with 540,000 charging bays,
as well as the installation of 230 million
smart meters.
China initiated research into a
smart grid in 2007, with State Grid
announcing its plan for the grid and
publ ishing the specics in 2009.
Development is to be completed in
phases. Over the next ve years,
several areas, including smart
substations, distribution and dispatch,
are expected to benet from the huge
inves tment in the sector, with smart
substations being given top priority.
Construction of smart substation s
requires major investment as
it involves a large amount of
equipment and application of high-
en d technolo gies. State Grid gave
spec ial emphasis to the constructi on
of smart substations at its mid-year
capital construction conference. The
74 pilot substations which are part
of the rst two phases of State Grids
pilot programme have completed the
bidding process, and 20 substations
are already operating. The construction
of additional smart substations is
expected to continue at an accelerated
Workers scaling a pylon
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increase. Asia was the fastest growing
region in cleantech energy, surpass-
ing the Americas in growth for the rst
time at 33% and a lot of it was driven
by China.
He observes that Asian countries
are not just top consumers of clean
energy; they will also dominate in the
provision of clean energy products.
Asia, he says, will invest heavily
in clean energy technology and
development and will likely be the
dominant location for clean energy
investment by 2012.
China invested US$46 billion
in cleantech in 2010 while the US
spent US$65 billion. China is now
manufacturing for local consumption,
beyond supporting the export of
products and components, which
explains the spurt of growth. We saw
a big switch in terms of policies and
projects being developed for domestic
market and consumption, and we
believe the momentum is going to
happen, says Krishnaswamy.
Stimulus funding has been a key
enabler. During the recession, govern-
ments made a commitment to invest
to stimulate the economy, and clean
technology was a politically correct
move from a sustainability standpoint,
he says.
Smart grids, the electrical grids
designed to predict and intelligently
respond to the behaviour of all
power users connected to it in
order to efciently deliver reliable,
economic, and sustainable electricity
services, represent the future trend
of power grid development. Many
countries worldwide are aggressively
implementing smart grid strategies.
China, with its 1.3 billion
population, is frequently beset by
power shortages and already faces
huge challenges to meet its electrical
power needs. State Grid Corporation
of China, the countrys largest power
grid developer and operator, plans
to accelerate the development of a
strong and smart grid and increase
investment in the sector.
China may be the second largest
cou ntry worldwide in terms of installed
capacity, but on a per capita basis, the
country ranks 85th, with a mere 0.21
kW installed capacity per person. The
country generates just 900 kWh per
capita, a third of the world average,
or 1/15th the amount generated per
capita by developed countries.
State Grid president and chief
executive Liu Zhenya said recently
at the Smart Grid World Forum 2011
s
State Grid
president and
chief executive
Liu Zhenya s
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pace over the next several years.
According to forecasts from
Chinas National Energy Commission,
the stark imbalance between the
supply and demand for electricity
across the country for this winter and
next spring is expected to contin ue.
For this reason, construction of the
smart gird is a major priority in the
countrys 12th Five-Year Plan starting
this year. During the 20112015
period covered by the plan, State
Grid plans to invest 1.6 trillion yuan
in the con struction of power grids
while China Southern Power Grid
(CSG) plans to invest 400.5 billion
yua n. By the end of 2015, State Grid,
whose service area covers 8 8% of
the country, is expected to have the
capacity to provide power grid access
to facilities responsible for 90 GW of
wind and 8 GW of solar power. To put
this in perspective, access to the grid
currently is about 38 GW for wind a nd
about 0.45 GW for sol ar.
Compared to that of developed
focused on transmission, and the other
half on distribution.
State Grid will spend around 300
billion yuan while CSG wi ll invest 100
billion yu an in the development of the
power grid this year. The huge invest-
ment benets many companies in the
sector , including NARI Technology
Development, Beijing Sifang Automa-
tion, Guodian Nanjing Automation
and XuJi Electric, among others.
State Grid has already made
major headway with core ultra-high
voltage DC transmission technology,
devel oped key UHV-related equipment
and components, including large
power transformers, and obtained
hundreds of patents. Howev er, the
present technical standards still fall
short of satisfying all the needs for
developing Chinas smart grid. In due
course, the company plans to establish
a systematic and open proprietary
system of smart grid technical
standards. Nanjing Shanglong
Communications
countries, Chinas smart grid has its
unique requirements. On the one hand,
the countrys demand will continue
to grow at a rate of 10% annually; on
the other hand, the countrys energy
resources and points of maximum
consumption lie geographically far
apart from each other, putting special
pressure on the need to build ultra-
high voltage transmission lines over
long distances as a major component
of the plan. These two factors have led
to the decision to split the investment
in the grid so that roughly half is
THE CREATION OF TIANJIN
ECO-CITY AT 30 SQ KM,
THE WORLDS LARGEST
INTEGRATED GREEN CITY IS
QUITE A REMARKABLE FEAT
What was once a wasteland almost devoid of
vegetation is now valuable real estate supporting
not just people and buildings but a restored
ecology of bird and plant life. On top of that,
the organisational skills of the Chinese and
Singaporean investment machinery have created
an ecosystem of a different sort the kind that
supports entrepreneurship.
s
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opportunities cco-ci1ics
Worlds largest eco-city
takes shape
Just three years ago, if you drove over
the Rainbow Bridge to the designated
site of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-
City, you would come upon a dismal
watery landscape of deserted saltpans
stretching as far as your eyes could
see. It was deemed a hopeless place.
Worse, it was tainted by decades of
chemical pollution from industrial sites
that border the area. Nothing could
grow on the land except hardy weeds.
Yet this was where the Chinese
and Singaporean leaders broke ground
for what is being billed as the worlds
biggest integrated eco-city project
covering 30 sq km, one that will take up
to 15 years to complete. The challenge
thrown up by this government-to-
government initiative was to turn a
piece of non-arable wasteland that
lacks fresh water into a world-class
model of a practical and replicable eco-
city housing 350,000 people.
Today, even before any resident
has moved in, the eco-city, designed
to be environment-friendly, resource-
efcient and economically sustainable,
is already the highest-prole residential
real estate in the Tianjin-Binhai New
Area (TBNA). TBNA is northern Chinas
super growth centre that is an hour by
fast train from Beijing.
It has attracted the attention of
several leading technology giants who
see in it an opportunity to test-bed
innovative eco-solutions that can be
scaled up. Many small and medium
industry players from Singapore and
China have also made a beeline for this
address, to be the pioneer members
of a huge business ecosystem that the
project represents.
The eco-citys administrative
committee (ECAC) vice-chairman
Lin Xue Feng tells Green Purchasing
Asia that a preliminary calculation
shows that to date, 54 billion yuan
(US$8.5 billion) has been invested or
committed by the Chinese government
and private entrepreneurs for the initial
stage to provide the infrastructure
and social projects that will support
development of the start-up area. This
is just the beginning, he says.
The sheer size of the project
area posed huge challenges from the
word go, inspiring engineers to come
up with innovative solutions. One
such challenge was rehabilitating the
wasteland. In true Chinese style, some
3.8 million cu m of polluted soil was
US$8.5 billion invested or committed in the initial stage of the eco-city project
Investment from companies setting up base here valued at 3 billion yuan so far
All stories by David Lee
Lin Xue Feng, the eco-citys
administrative committee (ECAC)
vice-chairman
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treated using a system that has since
been patented. Out of that effort, a
wetland and habitat for birds has been
created (see accompanying report).
In late September, we drove
over the Rainbow Bridge that has
today become a popular backdrop for
photographs in media write-ups and
a recent CNN report. On the left, we
saw ve giant windmills that were not
turning that day. A thick haze hung like
a blue blanket over the city on most
of the ve days we were in Tianjin;
we wondered if the solar panels that
topped the streetlights would get
enough irradiation to do their job.
Further ahead, after a stretch of
boulevard lined with owering shrubs,
was the start-up area. Numerous
blocks of high-rise apartments topped
by tower cranes stood before us.
One of the projects, belonging to
Hongkongs Shimao Group, had a
telephone number emblazoned in huge
lettering on its outer wall, an open
invitation to purchasers.
20% off market prices. These are now
being given nishing touches. Their
owners will be the rst to move into
the eco-city by mid-2012. Twenty
percent of the residential quota in the
city is meant for this market, to ensure
it does not become a playground for
the elite. Throughout the start-up
area, the roads were well maintained,
and our guide pointed out the wide
pathways, meant for pedestrians and
cyclists, that run parallel to the roads.
Parts of the 4 sq km start-up
area are ready, including the National
Animation Centre which also houses
the ofce of the master developer,
the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City
Investment and Development Co Ltd
(SSTEC). The place is popular with
families on weekends, as the animation
park features sculptures from various
childrens tales including Disney
characters and the Monkey God and
his companions on their journey to the
West. Nearby is a ve-star hotel being
built by Shimao; it will be operated by
QUICK TAKES
Size: 30 sq km
Start-up area: 4 sq km
Development investment
committed in the initial stage:
US$8.5 billion
Commencement: 2008
Expected completion:
10 to 15 years
Driving around, we also saw
gaily-painted blocks of completed
apartments. They turned out to be
public housing projects that have
been sold to the lower-income group
at 7,000 to 8,000 yuan (US$1,100 to
US$1,258) per sq m, a discount of
We hope to start this culture of
paying attention to how you can
use measures that dont cost a lot
but can achieve a high level of
sustainability. Ho Tong Yen, CEO
of SSTEC
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the Hilton chain when ready next year.
We also visited the impressive
sales galleries of Shimao and Taiwans
Farglory Group among the rst to
start selling their properties. Futuristic
and grand, they are designed to
impress. (One even had a robot on
duty, although it did not function on
the day of our visit.)
SSTEC chief executive ofcer Ho
Tong Yen tells Green Purchasing Asia
the handover of the rst apartments
will be in mid-2012. We are on track
to have a basic community by the
ve-year mark, which is September
2013. By this, I mean there will be
a certain number of companies, a
certain number of residents, basic
infrastructure, schools and so on.
Although the focus is on
completing the start-up area, really
there is much planning work and even
some construction going on for the rest
of the eco-city. For instance, the rst
phase of Malaysias Sunway Groups
project that is just outside the start-up
area will see piling work by year end.
Aside from residential apartments,
Key performance
indicators: How the
eco-citys greenness
is measured
the rst commercial building the
agship 19-storey Landmark Building
belonging to SSTEC in the 26.6 ha Eco
Business Park (EBP) was structurally
completed in August.
When I rst read of Tianjin Eco-City
at the end of 2010, I had, admittedly,
a mental picture of a futuristic place,
no thanks to the imaginative artist
impressions carried by many websites.
But that is not the case in reality.
Says Ho: Observers, especially
young students, come here and they
have a science-ction image of this
Source: SSTEC
Geothermal*
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glass city thats very nice. They come
here and they say hey, it actually looks
like a normal city. And it is intended
to be a normal city. If people say it
looks like a normal city, I take that as a
compliment, not a criticism.
If you look deeper, you see
the subtle features, the utilisation of
eco-design active features but more
importantly, the passive features. What
we hope to do is to start this culture
of paying attention to how you can
use measures that dont necessarily
cost a lot but achieve a high level of
sustainability. This is not to belittle
others who do demo projects in a small
area to show the extent to which one
can stretch technology. And that is
ne. But thats not what we are doing
here.
This somewhat explains the
concept of this eco-city as being
practical, replicable and scalable. But
is there a bilateral agenda to create
more Tianjin eco-cities?
We dont expect therell be
another Tianjin Eco-City clone
somewhere else, says Ho. This project
is a melting pot of ideas from various
developers, and those that arise from
the interplay of cultures and practices
and at international forums.
If you drive through the Tianjin
area, especially Binhai, every other
development talks about how eco
they are; even the concepts we are
pushing are already being replicated.
This is a huge market. Many new
cities, emphasising sustainability, are
being developed, says Ho. Others are
expanding with the same emphasis.
We are not holding ourselves out as
a beacon. However, we are showing
that eco-cities are viable, they are
attractive propositions and they can be
built at only a small increase in cost.
According to a 2009 World
Bank report requested by the Tianjin
municipal government while Tianjin
Eco-City was being planned, China
has launched more than 100 eco-
city initiatives in recent years
more than any other country.
Implementation has been patchy
at best due to poor planning and
nancing hiccups. With this huge
potential going forward, all eyes
are on Tianjin, with its impressive
progress, to pave a way.
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Public housing: There is a 20% discount for
the lower income group who will be the rst
residents. They are expected to move in mid-2012
Some 3.8 million cu m of polluted soil rehabilitated, treatment system patented
Special fund to support wind, solar and other renewable energy projects
The 30 sq km on which the Sino-
Singapore Tianjin Eco-City is taking
shape is now a far cry from what it was
land laid barren and toxic by about
40 years of salt farming and chemical
factory discharge. Rehabilitating this
non-arable land and restoring its
natural ecology have been a triumph of
human ingenuity and industry.
In an interview with Green
Purchasing Asia, Eco-City
Administrative Committee vice-
chairman Lin Xue Feng says they
had identied an area of 5 sq km
equivalent to one-sixth of the total land
area to be a natural wetlands and a
habitat for birds.
To do this, they spent three years
treating about 3.8 million cu m of
tainted soil so that it is now pollutant-
From wasteland to
multi-billion real estate
free. This was followed by large-scale
planting of endemic species. Lin
says they were so successful at the
soil treatment process that they have
registered and obtained national
patents for the system.
An area of 3.5 sq km that was used
as a sewage plant for wastewater and
efuents has also been transformed
into a clean lake that can today be
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The Animation Park has started attracting families during weekends. This will be a hub for the creative industry
How the eco-city site used to look
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enjoyed for its beauty and serenity.
We have also built an ecological
corridor that follows the river that
ows through the eco-city to the
sea. This has created an ecological
system where natural and man-made
environments complement each other
superbly, he says.
Other aspects of the eco-city
development as shared by Lin:
Overcoming water scarcity
Water recycling and rainwater
harvesting are used to help overcome
the problem of scarcity. The rst phase
of a water treatment plant which can
process 100,000 cu m daily has been
completed and will be commissioned
soon. Ultimately, non-traditional water
resources will meet more than 50% of
the total water needs in the eco-city.
An eco-city is
like a piece of fertile
land that nurtures and
grows green technologies
and green industries. This is
just the beginning. We have
high expectations and we
are condent it
will deliver.
Lin Xue Feng
green purchasing asia december 2011 19
Hybrid of solar panels and mini wind
turbine: 2,000 to be in place
Housing Development Board fats,
and have targeted that 20% of the
residential units in the eco-city will
comprise tastefully-decorated and
fully-furnished apartments to meet
the housing needs of the low-income
group. The frst phase of 600 units of
public housing is completed. We have
started construction of the community
centres, schools, hospitals and 17 other
public infrastructure projects. All these
public facilities will be ready for use
next year. Currently, the total housing
area has reached 3 million sq m. The
frst batch of residents is expected to
move in during the second quarter of
next year.
Incentives for greentech adoption
We have drawn up a set of incentives,
which includes a special fund to
support wind power, solar photovoltaic
and other renewable energy projects.
China has identifed the eco-city as a
model city and model for renewable
energy applications, and as such, the
central government is giving fnancial
support. We have also incentives and
subsidies for those who implement
solar water heating, geothermal
technology and others.
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Polluted water from chemical factories
Development of new energy
Although the city is built on the
principle of energy saving, we also
emphasise the development of new
energy based on the target that
renewable energy will provide 20% of
the power needs of the eco-city. We
are exploring an operating mechanism
to establish a connection between new
energy and traditional energy so that
they complement each other.
Solar energy will provide 12.3
MW while the wind capacity will be
4.5 MW. Nearly 2,000 street lights in
the eco-city will be powered by wind
and solar energy. A development area
of 500,000 sq m will use geothermal
energy. The residential area that
uses solar water heating systems
total 300,000 sq m. Smart power
substations have been put into use and
the electric buses will be in operation.
Property development
We expect the eco-city to be a platform
for the promotion of the eco-friendly
concept as well as a training centre for
the national environment protection
and ecology project.
We have built the National
Animation Park, National Film Park
and Ecology Park to develop the
industries of animation, flm and
broadcasting, culture, publishing,
software, information technology,
outsourcing and others. The frst
phase of the National Animation Park
has been completed and opened to
the public. We are speeding up the
construction of the National Film Park
and National Ecology Park. We are also
building an Eco Industrial Park and an
Eco-Technology Park to enhance R&D,
develop energy-saving technologies
and fnd new energy resources. More
than 500 entrepreneurs have agreed
to invest a total of more than 30 billion
yuan.
Social undertakings
This is a people-oriented urban
construction, with an excellent
education system, and a healthy
and harmonious environment with
job opportunities. So far, we are
focused on building apartments to
improve the living conditions of the
construction workers. We learnt
from the experience of Singapores
Salt farms were a feature of the landscape for up to 40 years before the land was rehabilitated for use as
the eco-city site
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo zo
To achieve 100% green buildings
in the eco-city, we support developers
in terms of land prices, nancing and
technical advice. We will be giving out
better incentives for green building
developers, to further motivate them to
use green technologies.
Public and private investments
We operate on the principle of guided
by the government, dominated by
private entities, oriented by market
behaviour and actively participated
by the public. As such, we actively
promote market-oriented public
facilities and basic infrastructure. The
governments social projects and the
private sectors commercial projects
will be developed in bundled style to
maximise commercial value.
We have done a preliminary
calculation of the capital investment in
the eco-city. The total investment in the
initial stage of the project is about 54
billion yuan (US$8.49 billion), of which
5.5 billion yuan is from the Chinese
government while the companies
have committed up to 48.5 billion
yuan. Development and construction
of public facilities in the initial stage
will cost 6.5 billion yuan, of which the
governments share is one billion, and
the rest is from the private sector.
Business opportunities generated
As this is a brand new area, we are
exploring green technologies in green
buildings, renewable energy, soil treat-
ment, water management, green trans-
portation, garbage management and
smart city development. We let market
demand dictate the development of the
industry, to provide market opportuni-
ties to the entrepreneurs involved in
these technologies.
As at today, the eco-city has
attracted more than 100 green enter-
prises and projects. The rst phase
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The Rainbow Bridge skyline transforms
2008 2011
The Hui Feng Xi Park is an oasis carved out of wasteland in Tianjin Eco-City
of a joint venture project between the
National Internet Network Provider
and the eco-city to build a smart city
network has been completed.
We also imported Singapores
water treatment system, logistics and
IT-related enterprises into the city. We
are cooperating with companies like
Siemens, Philips, Hitachi, General
Motors and some 500 companies on
green technology-related areas.
An eco-city is like a piece of fertile
land that nurtures and grows green
technologies and green industries. I
feel this is just the beginning. As the
project grows, it will provide broader
market opportunities to greentech
companies. We have high expectations
[of the eco-city] and we are condent it
will deliver.
Employment opportunities
The 5 sq km industrial park with the
animation park, technology park,
industrial park and information park
within it will provide job opportunities
in the cultural and creative industry,
in energy-saving and environmental-
protection [business activities], and in
R&D in science and technology and
information technology.
There are two business centres
in the north and south of the eco-city,
with the establishment of Qing Tuo
Zi Centre as a key attraction. These
will also create jobs in exhibitions
and tourism, education and training,
outsourcing and other service
industries. Other job creators are in
education, health, culture, sports and
other public facilities.
TBNAs annual growth rate has exceeded 20% for past decade
In 15 years, TBNA will be a vibrant commercial area
Much has been written on Tianjin
Eco-City as a demonstration project
in sustainable development. So much
so, in fact, that it is quite easy to forget
this is a project that needs to sell. The
participating developers have to make
prots to continue pumping in huge
investments. Green projects need to
compete with non-green ones in the
tough real estate market. For example,
the eco-city is not spared the vagaries
of the market. Sources say sales were
affected after the Chinese government
imposed housing curbs to quell
speculative sentiments early this year.
Aside from its sustainable model,
what the eco-city has going for it
is great location. It is in one of the
fastest-growing regions of China, the
Tianjin-Binhai New Area (TBNA).
SSTEC chief executive ofcer Ho Tong
Yen says: TBNAs growth rate has
Location is king,
even for eco-cities
been in excess of 20% per annum for
the past decade, and this was one of
the considerations when the site was
chosen.
TBNA was designated as the
third economic growth pole of China
in 2006, which meant huge support
from the central government. Thirty
years ago, Shenzen led the economic
development of the Pearl River Delta.
Today, it has a GDP of US$100 billion,
far bigger than many small countries.
Two decades ago, the Shanghai
Pudong New Area was developed to
promote the growth of the Yangtze
River Delta and eastern China.
Now, TBNA is the new poster
boy of Chinas development zones
and is today home to more than 150
multinational corporations from the
Fortune Global 500. Its GDP was 503
billion yuan (US$79 billion) last year.
The people who converge in TBNA are
the entrepreneurial types, and they
form a new class of consumers who are
likely to invest in the Tianjin Eco-City.
Market positioning
The eco-city really serves eight
industrial zones demarcated according
to function. They are the oil industry,
advanced manufacturing, central
business district, airport services
and logistics, hi-tech science park,
conference facilities and tourism,
modern metallurgy, and the Tianjin
port and industry.
Land reclamation is going on at
top speed at the port area. So many
new buildings and warehouses are
being built such that in a few years, the
area will be unrecognisable.
Ho says that in 15 years, the
larger area in which Tianjin Eco-City is
located will be a thriving commercial
area.
The other value propositions
are that this is a government-to-
government project, and that it is a
fully-integrated green city, where all
buildings have to conform to the Green
Building Evaluation Standards (GBES).
In a government-to-government
project, there must be broader goals
beyond just commercial ones, says Ho.
For example, we are building a model
To Beijing To Tianjin City To TBNA To Tianjin Airport
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TIAN-IN (C2CIT<
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Sino-Singapore
Tianjin Eco-City
Tianjin
SSTEC
Expressway
Highway
Railway
Light railway
Proposed Express LRT Line
Proposed Eco-City Circle Line
The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City
Beijing
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo zz
for sustainable development that is
practical. We are not talking about
using very expensive, cutting-edge
technology that requires extensive
government subsidy. We may use some
high technology, but the key emphasis
is that it must be practical. It must also
be replicable and scalable. So what we
do here can be done somewhere else
either on a bigger or smaller scale.
In addition, Tianjin Eco-City
follows a lot of the existing literature
on sustainable development, which talk
about the three Es: Ecology, economy
and equitability. In our case, we have
a different way of expressing this.
We talk about the three harmonies:
Harmony between people, harmony
between people and the environment,
and harmony between people and the
economy.
Why green doesnt have
to be expensive
According to Ho, a lot of thought
went into master planning so that
infrastructure like roads, pedestrian
pathways, green connectors, public
amenities are all designed to
encourage people to walk.
Our key performance
indicators (KPIs) are precise. We
dont say sports facilities are within
walking distance. Developers
sometimes dene walking distance
in imaginative ways. Our KPI says
it must be within 500 m. Studies
have shown that people consider a
distance of 200 to 300 metres to be
walkable. In our eco-cell (a term that
refers to a small community), you can
get to amenities like restaurants and
shops within 200 to 300 metres.
Within each development, there
is a hierarchy in the infrastructure.
Four eco-cells make a community,
and four communities form a sub-
centre. Access, however, is widely
facilitated. There are no gated
communities so people can take
short-cuts. There are community
walkways that cut through eco-cells.

Project challenges
Interface: In a massive project
like this, bringing in international
developers and concepts, and
applying them to the local context,
there will be issues. Those
companies that used to operate
in the Singapore context, for
example, would nd SSTEC a useful
interface. The challenges would be
in integrating different ways of doing
business, says Ho.
Changing mindsets: Ultimately, an
eco-city is not just about hardware,
it is also about how people live.
That is the next challenge that we
have to work towards our goal of
building the eco-city. People who
move in here will have to adopt a
greener way of life. There is strong
governmental involvement in
educating people on this process. As
people buy homes in the eco-city,
and as they look at the amenities that
promote sustainable living, I think
they will gradually change.
Green features of the Tianjin Eco-City
PROJECT ECO SOLUTIONS FEATURES
Entire Eco
Business Park
(EBP)
District heating & cooling system + ground source heat pump
(GSHP)
Pneumatic waste collection system (PWCS):
circle system
Renewable energy
Better sanitary environment
Low Carbon
Living Lab@EBP
GSHP + solar PV + building information modeling (BIM)
Winter garden
Double curtain wall
Integrated renewable energy solution
Reduce heat island eect
Enhanced building envelop
Landmark
Building@EBP
Variable air volume (VAV) fan coil + exhaust heat recovery
Variable voltage and variable frequency (VVVF) lift
70% solar thermal water
Philips test-beds:
- Lighting-on-demand integrated into landscape design
- Integrated lighting in SSTEC o ce
Increased energy e ciency
Renewable energy
GEMS
International
School
Hybrid solar lighting test-bedding (Philips)
GSHP for swimming pool heating
Wind turbine for energy wall & facade lighting
Energy saving
Renewable energy
Renewable energy
Sheng Jing
(Mitsui Fudosan)
Home energy management system (HEMS)
LEED (American green building standards) neighbourhoods
Solar thermal provides 60% hot water
Globally recognised green building
Renewable energy
Ayala Home energy management systems
Renewable energy
Samsung Double layer low-E glass with argon
Enhanced building envelope
Renewable energy
Source: SSTEC
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo zs
Retrots the biggest eco-city category and most likely to see completion
City planning knowledge transfer helps foster international cooperation
Building an entirely new eco-city
certainly invites more attention, but
researchers say green retrotting
existing cities appear to be as,
if not more, signicant. Their
attractiveness lies in the fact they are
completed much faster. This suggests
opportunities that urban planners,
building designers and technology
providers may have underestimated
or overlooked.
This is among the observations
highlighted in the ndings of
the 2011 survey of eco-cities by
International Eco-Cities Initiative
(IECI), a research network among
scholars at the University of
Westminster (London), the Johns
Hopkins University (Baltimore)
and the Smithsonian Institution
(Washington DC).
The Eco-Cities: A Global Survey
2011 report proled 174 cities, an
increase of over 100% on the 79 eco-
cities proled in the inaugural survey
in 2009. The jump in the eco-city
tally reects improved international
By Siaw Mei Li
reporting on such projects, as well as
better access to national sources on
sustainable urban development.
Dr Simon Joss, principal author
of the report and IECI coordinator, who
presented key ndings of this survey
via videoconference at the Sustainable
Cities Asia 2011 conference in
Singapore recently, says the study
categorised 16% of the 174 projects
surveyed as new build, 42% as inll
or expansion of existing area and
43% retrot.
Its often commonly assumed
that eco-city initiatives are mainly new
developments, and that innovation
usually ows from these new
developments to existing cities, he
says. However, our analysis shows
that the majority of initiatives consist
of retrot and inll projects, and
knowledge transfer ows as much from
retrots to inll projects, or from new
projects to retrots and vice-versa. This
is certainly true for both technological
innovation and policy innovation
processes.
Eco-cities worldwide at various
phases of development
STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT
60
(35%)
AT PLANNING STAGE
Examples:
Amman, Jordan
Plan IT Valley, Portugal
Segrate, Milan, Italy
68
(39%)
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Examples:
Auroville, India
Tianjin, Binhai, China
Treasure Island,
San Francisco, US
45
(26%)
IMPLEMENTED
Examples:
Loja, Ecuador
Tajimi, Japan
Vxj, Sweden
Opportunities in green
retrotting existing cities
Type of eco-city development by continent
Asia &
Australasia
TOTAL=69
15 17 37
TOTAL=10
4 4 2
Europe
TOTAL=70
2 45 23
America
TOTAL=25
6 6 13
New developments 27
Urban expansion 72
1etrot 75
TOTAL
Vxj, Sweden reduced 30% of its greenhouse
gas emissions per capita since 1993 and the goal
was to reduce it by 50% in 2010. Today 51% of
its energy comes from renewable sources. The city
was awarded by the European commission in 2007,
received the prize of International Sustainable
Energy was named " the greenest city in Europe"
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Retrots more likely to be completed
The attractiveness of retrot
developments lies not only in the
sheer number of projects, but also in
the relatively fast pace at which they
are completed. The survey found a
strong correlation between retrots
and the relative implementation
stage of a project: retrot cases were
more likely to have progressed to
full implementation compared with
developments involving entirely new
cities.
The survey used data from
sources like policy reports, case
studies, web proles and academic
literature. Josss team analysed their
data with particular attention to
policy coordination and public-private
partnerships.
We see a great deal of
transnational initiatives taking
place. That can be in a city-to-city
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo zu
collaboration, as in the case of
Helsingborg-Helsinger in Denmark
and Sweden. It can also consist of
bilateral approaches, says Joss,
giving examples of the Indian and
Japanese governments memorandum
of understanding to build four new
eco-cities in India, and China and
Singapores collaboration in Tianjin
Eco-City.
He also cites the World Banks
Eco
2
Cities current projects in
Indonesia and the Clinton Climate
Initiatives Climate Positive
Development Programme involving 16
cities worldwide, from Panama City to
Seoul to Pretoria.
Role of governance
Joss calls attention to the need
to understand and rene the
policymaking aspects of eco-cities to
ensure their long-term viability. He
Sustainable city or eco-city/town: Commonly used in four
dierent ways:
To describe a sizeable mixed-use new sustainable
development
Attached to the name of a particular area of an existing city
to be developed or retrotted in a sustainable way
Attached to the name of the city to denote an eco-initiative
in an area of that city
By local authorities, as umbrella label for various
sustainability initiatives across a city
Sustainable community/eco-community: Usually signies a
development in a suburban or rural location, built or aspiring
to ideals of sustainability.

Smart city: Used to emphasise hi-tech aspects of development
smart energy grids, IT networks, and related e ciencies in
utility and service provision.
Slim city: World Economic Forum knowledge transfer initiative
to encourage cities to increase e ciency across a variety of
sectors, eg energy, transport, construction work.
Compact city: Use of this term typically implies an opposition
to urban sprawl. It is an inuential urban design concept
whose guiding principles include high residential density and
the discouragement of private car use.
Zero energy city / zero net energy city: Uses no more energy
than it is able to generate locally. This is achieved through a
combination of measures to reduce current consumption and
the introduction of new renewable energy sources.
Low carbon city: Carbon is sometimes used as shorthand for
all greenhouse gases.
Terms closely related to eco-city
also says more attention should be
given to the sociopolitical dimensions
of eco-city building.
Eco-city initiatives are much
more than mere technical undertakings
focusing on technological aspects such
as greenhouse gas emission reduction
and zero-waste strategies. Instead
they need to be understood as wider
complex undertakings relating as
much to public-private relationships
and political and cultural processes.
Global mainstreaming of eco-city
initiatives is a recent and still growing
phenomenon and considering the
long development trajectory involved
in eco-city innovation, it is still a long
way before we can say for sure that
these initiatives have been successfully
implemented. There is therefore a
need to pay close attention to the issue
of sustainable governance of these
projects.
The reference to carbon (in this and the following two
terms) may reect national aspirations to create low carbon
economies often as part of policies designed to mitigate
climate change. The focus is on the physical aspects of cities:
energy, transportation, infrastructure and buildings.
Carbon neutral city / net zero city: Similar to low carbon city
except dened more strictly as a city which osets carbon /
greenhouse gas emissions such that its net emissions are zero.
Zero-carbon city: More specically still, a city which produces
no greenhouse gases and is run exclusively on energy from
renewable sources.
Solar city: May have a relatively narrow focus on replacing
fossil fuels with solar energy, and is in some cases limited in
its ambitions.
Oekostadt / kostadt: As well as being a direct German
translation of the term eco-city, kostadt also refers
more specically to a series of Austrian, German and Swiss
towns and cities which declared their intention to introduce
principles of sound environmental management and
sustainable development in the 1990s often as part of an
Agenda 21 programme.
Transition town: The Transition Town movement, which
originated in the UK and Ireland, is a growing international
movement to build up local communities social and
environmental resilience to the eects of climate change
and fossil fuel shortages. Activities are typically organised at
grass-roots level rather than embedded in policies.
Source: Eco-Cities A Global Survey 2011
Primary implementation mode
of eco-cities
IMPLEMENTATION MODE
104
(60%)
TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATION
Examples:
Gothenburg, Sweden
Masdar, UAE
Thames Gateway, UK
63
(36%)
INTEGRATED
SUSTAINABILITY
Examples:
Johannesburg
Eco-city, SA
Kottayam, India
Sonoma Mountain Village,
US
6
(3%)
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Examples:
Auroville, India
Tajimi, Japan
Waitakere,
New Zealand
Piling work to start before year end, and structural works in Q1 2012
Proven technologies used to reduce high replacement and maintenance costs
Sunway focuses on
health & sustainability
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Providence had a hand in Sunway
Groups foray into Tianjin Eco-City, the
only Malaysian developer to join the
league of property giants involved in
this high-prole project.
Events can actually be traced
back to the 1997 nancial crisis, which
drained many companies reserves,
forcing them into an over-geared
position. Asset-rich Sunway was one
of them. Their white knight came in
the form of Singapores Government
Investment Corporation (GIC), a
powerful sovereign fund which today
owns 12% of the groups shares.
When Singapore and China
decided to collaborate on the showcase
project, and partners were sought,
Sunway was one of the obvious
choices. On top of that, says Ong
Pang Yen, chief executive ofcer for
Tianjin Eco-City, Sunway Property
Development Pte Ltd Co, the company
has a proven record as a committed
and responsible eco developer that has
had many international collaborations.
Ong Pang Yen, CEO of Tianjin Eco-
City, Sunway Property Development
Pte Ltd Co
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In late 2009, at the invitation of
the master developer SSTEC, Sunways
top ofcials visited the eco-city site.
This was followed by the signing of a
series of agreements: a memorandum
of understanding in October that year,
a collaboration agreement in April
2010 and the rst equity joint venture
agreement in October 2010.
Sunway and SSTEC will develop
a total of 40 ha on the basis of a 60:40
equity share. It was earlier reported
that Sunway will invite another foreign
equity on board, but that option has
been dropped. The project, which
is just outside the start-up area, has
a gross development value of RM5
billion (US$1.6 billion), to be funded
through internal funds and borrowings
from Chinese banks. The collaboration
project comprise up to 600,000 sq m of
residential space and 100,000 sq m of
commercial area.
Ong says building plans for the
rst phase of the project 627 units
of apartments in eight blocks have
just been approved by the Eco-City
Administrative Committee (ECAC), and
building contractors who participated
in an open tender are now being
shortlisted. Piling will start before year
end while the main structural works
will kick off after the Chinese New Year
in January.
The company broke ground for
a sales gallery on November 22nd in
preparation for its sales launch in the
second half of 2012. The gallery will be
used for about ve years, which is the
planned duration of the whole project.
The pace of development in the
eco-city has been amazing. Almost 400
ha are being developed over just about
two years in the start-up area. It is like
a very busy airport and we just have
to wait for the queue ahead to clear
before we take off, says Ong.
In an interview with Green
Purchasing Asia, Ong shares about
the companys eco concepts and the
sensible and practical approaches it
will take to complete the project, in
line with master planning guidelines.
How will Sunways LOHAS
(Lifestyle of Health and
Sustainability) principles be
manifested in its project and
eventual property management?
In Mandarin, the words used to
describe LOHAS are happiness
and liveliness. They are used to
contrast against the busy and weary
lifestyle typically associated with busy
urban professionals. LOHAS seeks to
promote a balance, as it focuses on
ve key aspects, namely, health and
tness; personal development; social
justice; sustainable living; and the
environment.
The proposed LOHAS island is designed as a zero energy building, which means that energy needed to run
the building is wholly generated from renewable sources.The main renewable sources to be tapped are
geothermal heat, solar power and possibly also wind
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What eco-solutions and technologies
will Sunway bring to its project?
The key to making a difference is
to consciously optimise the use of
eco-solutions and technologies, to
be as cost-effective as possible. For
example, if we use solar thermal
systems and photovoltaics, we will
place them where we get the maximum
hours of sunlight throughout the year.
We know exactly which areas in our
development are the most exposed to
sunlight from our sun path analysis.
Such considerations weigh heavily
on our decision-making process. That
is why we opted for central water
heating with solar panels on the roof
top instead of providing individual
panels on the balcony of each unit.
In terms of compliance with Green
Building Evaluation Standard (GBES)
requirements, we would have met the
criteria, but in terms of optimising
cost-effectiveness of the solar panels,
we would not have fared too well as
some of the lower units will have much
less sunlight exposure.
We are also embarking on
designing and building a zero energy
LOHAS island that will house a mini
library and activity areas for the young
and old in our project. It will cover
about 800 sq m. We will harness
geothermal energy to keep the ambient
temperature here within a comfortable
zone, summer or winter. We will also
use geothermal energy to heat the
indoor swimming pool.
For the apartments, we are using
low-E double-glazed glass for areas
where there is exposure to sunlight.
But really, we try to keep windows
small so as to reduce heat loss during
winter. Our walls are insulated with
light-weight plastering. As far as
indoor air quality is concerned, we
are providing mechanised ventilation
systems for all units. Our development
has more than 40% green coverage
and we will be planting, on average, at
least three trees per 100 sq m.
Architecture/engineering:
Tianjin Architectural Design Institute
(Tadi)
Architectural concept:
SAA Architecture
M&E consultants: J Roger Preston
Quantity surveyor: Shanghai-based
A-Z Consultants
Landscape concept: Australian-based
Hassel Consultants
Green rating compliance consultant:
Tsinghua Architectural Design
Institute (part of Tsinghua University)
Professionals involved
in the rst phase
Hence, our project design will
consciously and physically provide the
space and facilities for the pursuit of
this lifestyle. But it is still a matter of
choice if the residents want to or will
subscribe to this lifestyle. We need
to promote, create awareness and
encourage. That is where property
management will have an important
role to play. Awareness that we can
choose a responsible and sustainable
lifestyle and education are the software
that will optimise the value of the
hardware.
Groundbreaking ceremony for Sunways sales gallery on November 22 (from left): Ngian Siew Siong,
managing director, Sunway Property Devt (International); Evan Cheah, CEO Sunway China, Sunway Group
chairman Tan Sri Jerey Cheah, ECAC senior vice-chairman Cui Guang Shi, SSTEC CEO Ho Tong Yen and
ECAC vice-chairman Meng Xian Zhang
Artist impression of the community square situated
at the centre of the LOHAS island development:
Community facilities such as the swimming pool,
gymnasium, sports hall, community halls, and
convenience store will be located around this open
space, while all residential blocks will be linked to
it via walking and cycling paths
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo zz
Magnet for pace-setting
Asian builders
To set the standards for this
benchmarking project, the master
developer of Tianjin Eco-City, SSTEC,
hand-picked joint venture partners
from among the biggest real estate
developers in Asia. Their projects
are within the crucial 4 sq km start-
up area, except for Sunway Group,
whose project is located at the fringe.
The following are thumbnails of who
they are and what they are building in
Tianjin.
Artist impression of the eco-city: On track to have a basic community of companies, residents, basic
infrastructure, schools and so on by September 2013
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Farglory Land Development
Group (China)
This Taiwanese developers project
covers about 1 sq km to be developed
in three phases. Phase 1 consists of
2,500 units of residential development,
while Phase 2 has both residential and
commercial developments. Phase 3 will
be mainly residential. The three phases
will be completed in eight to ten years.
A total of 934 units in Phase 1 was
launched for sale on September 2011,
with the average selling price at 13,500
yuan (US$2,100)/sq m (furnished,
including moveables).
Among the green features are
water-saving sanitary ttings, wall
insulation, solar thermal for hot water,
a pneumatic waste collection system,
use of recycled building materials and
radiant oor heating.
Shimao Property Holdings Limited
This Hong Kong developers project
includes residential apartments and a
hotel with a total investment of over
10 billion yuan. The apartments will
be developed in three phases with a
total construction area of 1.06 million
sq m. The project will encompass
eco and sustainable solutions and
technologies that will meet at least the
silver standard of the Green Building
Evaluation Standard (GBES).
The ve-star landscape style
hotel is almost ready. Alongside the
residential project, a 4,000 sq m public
exhibition centre is also being built
to showcase environment-friendly
materials, new energy systems,
recycling systems and other advanced
technologies.
Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd and Tiong Seng
Properties (Pte) Ltd
Japans largest real estate developer,
one of the core companies of the
powerful Mitsui Group, is partnering
Singapores Tiong Seng to develop
some 2,650 residences, mainly high-
rises. This will cover some 40 ha, with
project completion scheduled for 2014.
Hitachi will partner Mitsui Fudosan
in implementing its home energy
What rating level will your project be
aiming for in the GBES?
We are targetting at least GBES Gold
or Gold Plus. We are also inviting
Singapores Building & Construction
Authority (BCA) to assess and evaluate
our project, and targetting at least the
Gold standard from them.
What is your position on working
with technology providers to test-
bed innovative products or services?
Being a part of the eco-city
development does present us with
many such opportunities. We will
evaluate carefully to ensure such
collaboration, if any, does not adversely
affect our home buyers in the longer
term. We have to satisfy ourselves
that they are credible products as
we see this [test-bedding] as joint
responsibility in co-branding.
It was said this project is
designed to be practical,
scalable and replicable. What do
you understand these to mean?
It means essentially that the
development must be economically
viable and affordable. The green
features must be there as per GBES
standards and criteria, so the benets
are real. Only proven products and
technologies should be employed
so uncertainties and risks of high
replacement and maintenance costs
are kept to a minimum. Affordability in
the competitive market environment
is key, so there is little room to invest
in high capital cost technologies that
have yet to provide reasonable returns.
So we may not take the approach of
building a visionary or futuristic sci-
project. We take the pragmatic and
viable approach.
Leading Asian developers are shaping Chinas upcoming metropolis
Features range from passive ones to cutting edge energy management systems
Keppel takes broad-based
strategic position
First phase Seasons Park launched eco-homes in October 2010
Other business units involved in wastewater treatment telecoms and R&D
Multinational Keppel Group
leads the Singapore private sector
consortium in a 50-50 venture with its
Chinese consortium partner to form
Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City
Investment and Development Co
Ltd (SSTEC), the eco-citys master
developer. SSTEC in turn has equity
stakes in projects of other developers.
Strategically placed in the
business eco-system, Keppel also has
some choice projects in the 4 sq km
start-up area of Tianjin Eco-City. It has
taken up a 36.6-ha site which will be
developed in phases by its unit Keppel
Land. This site is located along the
main Eco-Valley, near the Eco-Business
Park and a commercial sub-centre next
to a planned light rail station.
The entire development will
comprise 5,000 homes and commercial
properties, with a total gross oor area
(GFA) of about 680,000 sq m. Seasons
Park, the rst phase, launched its eco-
homes in October last year. Over 70%
of the 701 launched units were sold as
at March 2011.
Another development in the same
site is Seasons City, which comprises
three ofce towers, retail premises and
serviced apartments with a total GFA
of 254,398 sq m. The rst phase broke
ground in April, and comprises an
ofce tower called Keppel Eco-Centre
and retail premises. The tower will
be built to Green Building Evaluation
Standard (GBES) platinum.
Serenity Cove is another Keppel
Land project that was launched
in phases. It comprises 573 units
of bungalows, apartments, semi-
detached, terrace and villa units. The
rst two phases of 233 units have
been sold and completed. Phase
3, consisting of apartments, semi-
detached and villa units, is to be
launched soon.
Other Keppel units also have a
strong presence in this eco-city:
Keppel Integrated Engineering
(KIE) will build, own and operate a
water reclamation plant through a
joint venture agreement signed in
April 2011 with Tianjin Eco-City
Investment and Development Co
Ltd (TECID), the Chinese consortium
partner. The proposed plant will
serve the entire city, upgrade treated
efuent from an existing wastewater
treatment plant to meet stringent
national standards for wastewater
discharge, and also produce high-
quality recycled water.
The proposed plant will include
a wastewater efuent polishing unit
with capacity of 100,000 cu m per
day and a water recycling facility
that will produce 20,000 cu m per
day of recycled water initially, with
the possibility of increasing the
capacity to 42,000 cu m per day.
KIE is the rst anchor tenant of
the Tianjin Eco-City Sustainable
Development Innovation Centre
(TSDIC), which gathers international
educational institutions, government
agencies and leading international
companies under one roof to forge
an R&D and innovation community.
In 2010, Keppel DHCS made its
rst signicant step into China to
provide district heating and cooling
system services in Tianjin Eco-City.
Construction is underway.
Keppel Telecommunications &
Transportation (Keppel T&T) is
developing a 35,000 sq m green
integrated logistics distribution
centre in the Eco Industrial Park
which it will also operate. This
logistics centre will help to draw
high value-added manufacturing
investments and provide integrated
logistics services to North China.
management system (HEMS) in this
project.
Ayala Land Inc
The Philippines top integrated
city developer broke ground for its
project, The Elegance, in April this
year. Jointly developed with SSTEC,
this is Ayala Lands rst agship
project in China. The US$220 million
project has a land size of about
97,600 sq m with 1,244 housing
units. The rst phase of the project is
estimated to be completed end-2012.
Eco-features include ribbon
paths, which connect different
buildings and promote walkability
and interaction among residents,
solar water heating, water recycling
and an intelligent energy monitoring
and management system. The
Elegance is designed by Aecom, a US
design consultancy, and aims for the
GBES Silver standard.
Samsung C&T Corp
This South Korean company is
developing a housing project called
Shou Xi, located close to the GEMS
International School and the Eco-
Valley. With a land area of about
54,900 sq m, the project will have
643 apartments. The 500 million yuan
(US$78 million) project is expected
to be completed in 2013. This is
Samsung C&Ts rst residential
development in China, and is
designed by multi-award winning
Samoo Architects. Samsung C&T
was involved in building three of the
worlds tallest buildings: the Petronas
Twin Towers (Kuala Lumpur), Taipei
101 and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Sunway Group
One of Malaysias biggest developers
brings to Tianjin its experience in
turning a piece of ex-mining land into
one of the countrys leading townships.
In Tianjin Eco-City, the company will
develop a total of 40 ha with a gross
development value of US$1.6 billion.
(See accompanying interview with
company CEO Ong Pang Yen)
allowing residents to track their
energy consumption patterns so they
can use energy more efciently.
These smart grid systems will
embrace solar photovoltaics and
other renewable energy and storage
batteries. This is the rst time Hitachi
is using the system in a large city.
Hitachis track record includes a
residential smart grid demonstration
project at Rokkasho Village in Aomori
Prefecture, Japan. The village has
the worlds rst wind power station
equipped with large storage batteries.
It also has a smart grid demo in the US
state of New Mexico, and is conducting
a feasibility study in the Delhi-Mumbai
Industrial Corridor in India.
Philips
This Dutch multinational has a contract
to provide energy-efcient lighting
solutions for the Landmark Building
in the Eco-Business Park, having done
three lighting test-bed projects in
the building as well as at the GEMS
International School. One of these is
the lighting-on-demand system where
video sensors (instead of motion
sensors) are installed to detect human
presence at 20 lamp posts.
Project attracts a cluster
of global giants
Tianjin's Eco-CBD to become a regional hub for cleantech companies
Alliance of 11 companies to take EV ownership to 90% in eco-city
Being the largest integrated eco-city
project in the world, Tianjin Eco-City
is a magnet for technology players
wishing to test-bed new technologies
or cutting-edge products in a real-life
environment.
Such technological collaborations
showcase the eco-citys position as a
living lab for eco-solutions where
companies can conduct last-mile
commercialisation for their products.
The Eco-Central Business District (Eco-
CBD) is where most of the action is.
Master developer SSTEC has
signed on a number of companies
and is negotiating with more
multinationals, which see the eco-city
as a springboard to similar projects in
China and the rest of Asia. These are
some of the companies offering their
best technologies:
Hitachi
This Japanese technology giant is
focusing on its smart city business,
which has been demonstrated in
several countries around the world. In
Tianjin Eco-City, it will:
Develop a building energy manage-
ment system (BEMS) for the Eco-
CBD
Introduce the community energy
management system (CEMS) for
efciently controlling energy within
a local area
Introduce the home energy manage-
ment system (HEMS) in condomini-
ums, reportedly in collaboration with
Panasonic which is now aggres-
sive on HEMS. The system will be
deployed in 450 residential homes
in the Sheng Jing residential devel-
opment a joint venture of SSTEC,
Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co Ltd
and Tiong Seng Properties Pte Ltd
The rst commercial building in Tianjin
Eco-City to be structurally completed is
the agship Landmark Building located
in the Eco Business Park (EBP). Topped
up in August, the multi-tenanted
19-storey building will set the standard
for business space in the eco-city.
It will have ready-built o ces
(RBOs), R&D set-ups and commercial
facilities such as eateries, retail
stores, gym and a crche. It is aiming
at a silver rating in both the Green
and the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design system (LEED).
The eco features are designed
to lower energy consumption, which
translates into cost savings for the
tenants. These include:
Solar thermal water heaters to
Flagship Landmark Building topped out
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meet more than half of the hot water
consumption
Pneumatic waste collection system
(PWCS) for clean and odourless waste
disposal
Solar tubes from the ground surface
leading to underground parking areas
Variable air volume (VAV) system with
CO
2
sensors to control the exchange of
fresh air within the building to better
regulate the temperature and reduce
dependence on air-conditioning.
Exhaust heat recovery technology to
retain heat from exhaust air
Variable voltage and variable frequen-
cy (VVVF) lifts which use less energy
Philips lighting on demand system
in the Landmark Buildings landscape
design and within the building (this
will be a test-bed project)
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo so
Chinese carmaker Chery is to colla-
borate on the EV hub investments
and services, including bundling
Chery EVs with the sale of eco-
homes.
Tianjin Electric Power Corporation
will develop a charging infrastructure
system to support the use of EVs.
Other signatories include Xiamen
King Long and ST Kinetics.
opportunities
Philips (China) Investment Co
Ltd will shift its Tianjin head ofce to
the Tianjin Eco-Citys Eco Business
Park and build it as its regional base.
New Energy Vehicle Alliance
This grouping of 11 international and
local companies aims to achieve an
electric vehicle (EV) ownership rate of
90% of all vehicles in the eco-city by
2020. It includes the following players:
Hitachi will help create an EV hub
that provides EV charging, rental and
other services. The scope of work
includes the development of systems
for managing EV positioning, an
emergency vehicle management
system and a car-sharing system.
General Motors (GM) will introduce
the next generation of electric-
networked vehicle (EN-V). The
zero-emission EN-V aims to tackle
problems like trafc congestion,
parking, air quality and affordability.
cco-ci1ics
Some of the 500 companies that are set-
ting up base in Tianjin Eco-City include:
Pan Asian Water Manufacturing
(Tianjin) Co Ltd (PAW): It will set up its
China headquarters and key manufac-
turing base in the Eco-Industrial Park.
The facility will consolidate its manu-
facturing operations in China and
serve its growing global needs and
markets. In addition, this will serve as
its global logistics and warehousing
hub, R&D centre, and control centre
for brand building and marketing for
Duvalco products. The total invest-
ment is 100 million yuan (US$15.7
million). PAW is a subsidiary of Pan
Asian Holdings Limited, a Singapore
Exchange-listed quality pipe and valve
manufacturer.
LHT Holdings: This manufacturer
of eco wood products listed on the
Singapore Exchange will establish
a wood waste recycling plant in the
Eco-Industrial Park to manufacture
and assemble eco wood products. LHT
Holdings products will help develop-
ers in the eco-city achieve the Green
through the use of recycled materials
in their buildings. This is the com-
panys rst manufacturing facility in
China.
SITO Jia Hua (Beijing) Investment
Co Ltd (SITO): It will invest 130 million
yuan in the Eco Business Park and set
Room for many players in the business ecosystem
up an ecological demonstration base,
which will include its regional o ce,
an R&D centre for solar PV, solar ther-
mal power generation and biomass
power generation. SITO will also act as
a multiplier and use this platform to
bring its portfolio of companies into
the eco-city and its surrounding areas.
Enersolar New Energy
Technologies Pte Ltd: This solar
heating company will be taking up
plug-and-play ready-built factory
space in the Eco-Industrial Park to
assemble and provide renewable
energy and solar thermal systems
for the eco-city.
Artist impression of the Low-Carbon Living
Lab that will house companies growing green
solutions that can be scaled up. Located in
Eco Business Park, it will be the rst dual-
Platinum (GBES and Singapore BCA Green Mark)
low-carbon building in the eco-city. Its green
features include: (1) Green lungs and green skins
interspersed within the building (2) Intelligent
lighting system and comprehensive energy
management system (3) Rooftop solar thermal,
solar PV panels, mini wind turbines (4) Light
pipes, basement skylight, shading devices and
light shelves (5) Rainwater collection and water-
e cient strategies.
Design and project management are by Jurong
Consultants Pte Ltd (Singapore)
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by a garbage sorting system and does
away with garbage collection trucks.
It does however, have some detractors
who feel the low-carbon benets are
debatable.
Singapore Technologies
Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering)
ST Engineering is installing a
pneumatic waste collection system
(PWCS) at the Eco Business Park that
will allow tenants and residents to
enjoy cleaner and odourless waste
disposal. The system is accompanied
Siemens Ltd China,
Corporate Technology (Siemens)
Together with several other
companies, this German giant signed
a memorandum of understanding
in September last year with SSTEC
to collaborate and participate in the
research and development of new
green technologies, and develop
sustainable and practical solutions
for the Eco-CBD in areas such as
green buildings, alternative transport
solutions, connectivity, pollution,
congestion and energy efciency.
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opportunities rcNcwnsLc cNcrcv
How a US company supplies
Chinas solar industry
SunSi Energies aims to control 25% of key solar panel ingredient in China
Russian company made rst order to test the companys product purity
By David Lee
An American company has embarked
on a campaign to acquire a range
of China-based plants that produce
trichlorosilane (TCS), a key ingredient
in pure polysilicon that is used in the
manufacture of about three-quarters
of all solar panels worldwide. TCS is
a colourless liquid containing silicon,
hydrogen and chlorine, made from
industrial grade sand, the second most
abundant element on earth.
has been operating in China for two
years now, produces a total of about
45,000 tonnes of TCS at its Baokai and
Wendeng plants in China. Production
capacity was ramped up to 55,000
tonnes end of July this year.
It currently owns 100% of a
Hong-Kong-based company, SunSi
Energies Hong Kong Inc, which
will be one of the entities through
which SunSi will acquire Chinese
TCS facilities. It also holds majority
control over one production facility and
one distribution facility, and aims to
acquire another production facility in
2012.
In light of the anticipated future
growth of the solar energy industry
within China and worldwide, combined
with the fact that TCS is used in about
75% of solar cell production globally,
SunSi expects to occupy an extremely
advantageous position within the solar
cell value chain, says Natan.

Government policy driver
Last year, the Chinese government
announced that it intends to spend
US$454 billion in the next decade on
alternative energy, and to implement
a ve-fold increase in solar production
by 2020. According to a Financial
Times report, Beijing is guaranteeing
solar developers between 1 yuan
(US$0.15) and 1.15 yuan per kWh,
depending on project timing and
location, for the clean energy they feed
into the nations grid. This move is
likely to make China a global leader in
the solar industry.
As big markets such as Germany
and Italy move to reduce subsidies
for solar panels, many people believe
Beijings increasing support for the
industry will see the country which
is already the worlds largest maker
of solar panels become one of the
worlds biggest buyers of solar panels
as well, says Natan.
He believes that as China ramps
up its commitment to solar power,
SunSis fortunes may rise along with
it due to the strong business ties it
has forged in the country. SunSis
business is focused on the TCS used
in traditional solar photovoltaic
(PV) cells, which has a higher energy
conversion efciency than its thin-lm
counterpart, and hence, a smaller area
consumption per watt production.

From its Wendeng plant (the rst three
names are its biggest customers)
Jiangsu Zhong Neng Silicon Industry
Technology Development Co Ltd (also
known as GCL Silicon Technology
Holdings Inc). This Chinese company
is one of the largest polysilicon and
wafer producers in the world in terms
of production capacity
Zhejiang Zhong Neng Technology
Development Co Ltd
Luo Yang Zhong Silicon Hi-Tech
Technology Development Co Ltd
Wuxi Zhong Cai Technology
Who SunSi sells its TCS to
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Zibo Baoyun Chemical plant, Shandong, China (artists rendition current)
Development Co Ltd
Lian Yun Gang Zhong Cai Technology
Development Co Ltd
Zhejiang Xie Cheng Gui Co Ltd
Wendeng Shi Huahai Chemical Co Ltd

From its Baokai plant
Luo Yang Zhong Silicon Hi-tech
Technology Development Co Ltd
Jiangsu Zhong Neng Silicon Industry
Technology Development Co Ltd (GCL
Silicon Technology Holdings Inc)
LDK Solar Co Ltd, Hi-Tech Industrial
Park
New York-based SunSi Energies
Inc wants to control 140,000 tonnes
of TCS annually by the end of 2012,
that it estimates will represent a China
market share of between 2025%,
according to company president David
Natan, a trained accountant whose
experience in over 15 mergers and
acquisitions will come in handy as the
company scales up.
Presently, the company, which
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo
Overcoming market barriers
The existing barriers to enter the
solar energy industry vary, says
Natan, depending on where along the
solar value chain a company wishes
to become involved. Becoming a
TCS or polysilicon producer at the
front end of the chain is difcult,
because it requires special permits and
large capital investment, in addition
to several years of planning and
construction, he says.
This accounts for the higher prof-
its made by companies such as SunSi
that have managed to set up their busi-
ness around these early links in the
chain. One of the most signicant bar-
riers to entry is the expertise needed
to run a TCS plant. There are very few
TCS engineers in the world who have
run facilities equaling SunSis in pro-
duction capacity. Even with unlimited
funding, the engineering expertise in
building the plant and the process it-
self is not a trivial matter, says Natan.

Market positioning
Not all of SunSis business is located
in China. The company recently
announced a US$155,000 order of
117 tonnes of TCS by Nitol Solar,
a Russian company and one of the
worlds largest polysilicon producers.
Nitol is using this small order to test
for product purity. This is SunSis rst
order outside of China, and it expects
more as the solar buy-in increases
given the recent drop in solar cell
prices worldwide. This is why SunSi is
increasing production capacity at its
Wendeng plant.
Natan says the nancial
difculties of American solar energy
companies have been widely reported
problems that stem from the steep
drop in the cost of solar cells driven in
part by Chinese subsidies. Due to its
position on the solar value chain, a raw
material supplier that can sell to China
is immune from such turbulence, he
says. Consequently, as the Asian solar
industry becomes larger, companies
such as SunSi are poised to reap the
rewards.
The price of TCS varies on a daily
basis, and is not published unlike other
commodities. It normally follows the
prices of polysilicon. Natan says the
price as at end of August was about
US$1,100 per tonne.
particularly those near our plant, will
increase the supply of TCS and may
result in lower local TCS and glycerin
prices and higher costs for feedstock.
Chinas independent TCS pro-
ducers are mainly located in Jiangxi,
Tangshan of Hebei, Zibo of Shandong,
Chongqing of Sichuan, Wuhan of Hu-
bei, and Shanghai. SunSi sees its main
direct competitors as Leshan Yongx-
iang Resins Co Ltd, Tangshan Sunfar
Silicon Industries Co Ltd, Huaxiang
Chemical Industry Co Ltd and Kaihua
Synthetic Material Co Ltd.
SunSi plant (above and right): As China ramps up its
commitment to solar power, SunSis fortunes may
rise along with it due to the strong business ties it
has forged in the country
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SunSi generated about US$15
million in revenue for the scal year
ending May 31st this year. It projects
revenue of between US$49 million and
US$52 million in the next scal year.

Competition
The company competes with inde-
pendent TCS producers on the basis
of reputation, technology, delivery,
service and price. Natan believes there
are 25 TCS producers in China, most
of which have relatively small produc-
tion capacity, and fewer than ten can
produce over 2,000 tonnes per year.
The total independent Chinese TCS
production capacity is estimated at
about 300,000 tonnes per year.
Natan admits many of the
producers have greater resources
than they do. We also expect the
number of our competitors to increase
signicantly in future. We also compete
indirectly with polysilicon and solar
PV panel manufacturers that produce
their own proprietary TCS, as opposed
to purchasing it from independent
TCS manufacturers such as us. The
development of other TCS plants,
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo sz
case studies crccN sUiLbiNcs
Mud house for
modern green living
Idea based on harmony with nature, optimising resources, not new technology
Mud used to make sun-dried bricks, other ingredients sourced locally
By Mahashwetha Dass
Indian architects Vasanth and
Revathi Kamath have built a unique
mud house amidst the concrete maze
of Indias National Capital Region (off
Delhi) in Anangpur village, Faridabad.
The emphasis of this structure is
on back-to-nature construction tech-
niques, use of locally-available build-
ing materials, and being ecologically
sensitive.
There is a need in this coun-
try to understand that there is scope
for the interaction of architects and
architecture with the poor, even in the
rural areas, to better understand local
ecology and improve the quality of
life for people. So, I started designing
ecological buildings by which I can
improve the state of the environment,
says Revathi.
The Kamaths two-storey mud
house is built on 1.25 acres of a
disused quarry that is today lush with
vegetation including neem, dhak, and
babool trees. Its roof is alive with grass
that produces oxygen, absorbs heat
and keeps the building cool.
The bamboocrete roof uses the
intrinsic tensile strength of bamboo
with a minimal one and a half inches of
cement mortar over it to form a struc-
tural slab, says Vasanth, adding that
the roof is supported on A-frame tree
trunk trusses.
The key uniqueness of the Ka-
maths house, however, is in the use of
sun-dried mud bricks instead of clay
bricks. Clay bricks are burnt, us-
ing fossil fuel (mainly wood in India),
with signicant energy consumption
and ecological consequences. For our
house, we used mud from our land,
moulded the bricks on site and sun
dried them.
For wall plaster, the Kamaths
used the traditional mud and cow-
dung mixture for the rst coat, while
subsequent ner coats had chandan
and haldi (sandalwood paste and
turmeric) mixed into the mud. These
natural admixtures have antiseptic and
aesthetic qualities.
Keeping cool, naturally
The houses drainage system uses a
natural recycling process that puries
the waste and water through an an-
aerobic chamber. Above the chamber
are plants that draw up the water and
purify it as well.
During the warm summer months,
occupants of the mud house benet
from its natural cooling system.
Revathi says: We have a courtyard
and sprays where, with just four large
buckets of water, our entire house is
cooled in the heat of summer. The
temperature in here is about six to
seven degrees lower than outside.
There are also three ponds in the
compound that cool the breeze that
ventilates the house.
The mud house does not run on
solar power, however, although the
Kamaths rely heavily on solar cookers
and have tted solar lights at the
entrance of the house.
We have not used solar panels
to generate electricity, even though we
would have liked to, because of their
prohibitive initial cost. Individually-
powered solar lights have been
installed in the landscape and are
functioning, but solar water heating is
yet to be incorporated, says Revathi.
Spreading eco-knowledge
The couples lifestyle has inuenced
many of their clients to follow their
footsteps, resulting in them being
engaged to construct such dwell-
ing places and buildings in different
parts of the country, from Nagaland to
Jaipur.
One of their latest projects, based
on the idea of utilising renewable
Revathi Kamaths mud house, surrounded by greenery. The rooftop is covered with grass to keep the
house cool
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energy, is the Gnostic Centre in Palam,
Delhi. Here, they used mud-and-rags
technique to plaster the internal walls
of the conference room, where sound
absorption was an issue. The room
uses energy-saving LED lights while
solar-powered lights are tted in the
compound.
This site, where construction is
still ongoing, has been designed with
the natural environment in mind. For
example, the Kamaths built an earth
tunnel system to prevent rain from
ooding the compound. Rainwater
is recycled to keep the grass on the
rooftop green. The building uses a
chilled water air-conditioning system
that not only keeps the building cool
even in summer, but also saves a
signicant amount of energy. Air for
the rooms is cooled by fans blowing
it over chilled water coils in devices
called fan coil units.
Contextual, local design solutions
Revathi believes architects should work
with their clients in a participatory
way, and that each person has his set
of values that needs to be respected.
This is why, despite having the same
essential elements, each project looks
different. Revathi works with the locals
in deciding which designs best suit the
particular project sites unique envi-
ronment.
In building the mud house and
Gnostic Centre, the focus has been
to minimise even the use of modern
green building components such as
LED lights, water chillers, solar panels,
solar lights and fan coil units. Our ef-
fort has been to build ecologically, with
natural materials, many of them from
our land and the others from nearby,
using labour-intensive techniques,
which makes sense in over-populated
India where traditional building craft
skills are dying out.
When asked about energy bill
savings, Vasanth explains: We have
never attempted to compute the
savings in our energy bill because of
the passive cooling features, so I would
not like to hazard a guess, but surely,
about 18 tonnes of air-conditioning
have been saved by the design,
materials and features used, as we
have no air-conditioning, and yet have
an incredible level of thermal comfort
in summer.
Top: The amphitheatre in the Gnostic Centre in Palam, Delhi. The
walls are mud plastered and the hall is soundproof and lighted
with LED lights. Rags have been used in the mud walls to make
them sound absorbent
Above: This pond in the compound of the Kamaths' mud house
helps bring down temperatures around their home
Right: Natural elements are used to decorate the premises
Bottom: The Kamaths have built an earth tunnel system in the
Gnostic Centre to prevent rainwater from ooding the compound.
The water can also be recycled to keep the house cool and the
grass green on the rooftop
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case studies Low cnrsoN ci1ics
Carbon challenge
for Iskandar Malaysia
Its carbon emissions will triple by 2025 if no countermeasures are undertaken
Huge opportunities to introduce renewable energy as it scales up
By Stephen Ng
Baseline studies were carried out for
Iskandar Malaysia, a new economic
supercorridor at the southern tip of
Peninsula Malaysia, to determine the
countermeasures needed to make the
region a low carbon urban develop-
ment.
Professor Dr Ho Chin Siong of
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),
whose team conducted the studies,
says the project was jointly under-
taken by Malaysia and Japan under the
SATREPS (Science and Technology
Research Partnership for Sustainable
Development) programme to promote
low carbon cities. Participating univer-
sities include UTM, Kyoto University,
Okayama University and Ritsumeikan
University.
One signicant nding is that if no
proactive measures are taken, the an-
nual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
of Iskandar Malaysia estimated at
12.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide
(CO
) will rise to 45.5 million tonnes

by 2025, or 3.6 times higher than the
level in 2005.
sion for Iskandar Malaysia can go
down to 6.5 tonnes CO
by 2025.
As more people ock to the
region, the energy demand will more
than triple from 3.3 million tonnes oil
equivalent (toe) in 2005 to 10.9 million
toe in 2025 for the Business as Usual
(BaU) case. The bulk will come from
the industry (6.6 million toe; 61%)
followed by transport (2.2 million toe;
20%), and residential and commercial
(2.1 million toe; 19%).
Petroleum consumption will also
grow in tandem. By 2025, the region
is forecast to consume 5 million toe of
petroleum and 3.9 million toe of natu-
ral gas. As Iskandar Malaysia develops,
there are opportunities to introduce
renewable energy to meet energy
demands, without increasing carbon
emissions.
Higher than Asia Pacic
Based on the National Communica-
tions Report (data submitted to the
United Nation Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change), Malaysias
emission of CO
per capita is about 7.1

tonnes, nearly triple the average for
Asia Pacic of 2.6 tonnes per capita.
In December 2009, the Malaysian
premier committed to a 40% cut of
the carbon emission of the 2005 levels,
by 2020. To achieve this, countermea-
sures, especially in urban and eco-
nomic development regions such as
Iskandar Malaysia have to be taken.
Ho is condent that early inter-
vention at Iskandar Malaysia will help
Iskandar Malaysia energy demand by sector Where savings will come from: Breakdown of emissions reduction potential
Note: Estimated based on (1) 2025 BaU
(Business as usual without mitigation
measures) and (2) 2025 CM (With counter
mitigation measures) assumptions of
employed technologies as well as the
potential to reduce the GHG emissions by
low-carbon measures available by 2025
Prof Ho Chin Siong: New and bold policies needed
to encourage countermeasures
For a land area three times the
size of Singapore (2,217 sq km), its
per capita emission of 9.3 tonnes of
CO
(2005) is expected also to rise to

15.1 tonnes of CO
/year by 2025, says

Ho. This is higher than the national
average of 7.1 tonnes per capita. With
countermeasures, the per capita emis-
Source: Ho Chin Siong, Supian Ahmad, Muhammad Zaly Shah Muhammad Hussein and Chau Loon Wai (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia)
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
46,000
G
H
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e
m
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s
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/
r
e
d
u
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t
i
o
n
s

(
k
t
-
C
O
2
)
2005
12,552
45,484
19,598
2025BaU 2025CM
Logistics improvement
Transport demand management
Fuel shifting
$ciencX improvement (Auildings)
$ciencX improvement (transport)
$ciencX improvement (industrX)
$ciencX improvement (poVer sector)
GHG emissions
Emissions reductions
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
E
n
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r
g
X

d
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m
a
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d

(
k
t
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e
)
2005 2025BaU 2025
3,286
572
359
1,733
382
240
1,091
978
6,635
834
253
3,494
685
649
790
1,442
10,936
5,915
Freight transport
Passenger transport
(ndustrX
Commercial
Residential
Vith counter
mitigation measures
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save millions of ringgit from having to
carry out remedial work some 20 years
down the road. If mitigation measures
are adopted, the emissions can be
decreased by 60% and suppressed to
19.6 million tonnes of CO
, says Ho.
Ho says efciency improvement
for industry will account for the largest
proportion (43.2%) of the total CO
re-
duction, followed by that for the power
sector (18.3%), buildings (17.8%),
fuel shifting (15.3%), logistics im-
provement (3.1%), transport (3.0%)
and transport demand management
(2.5%).
Local governments should man-
age the regions transport demand,
improve energy efciency and increase
the penetration of renewable energy
(given that the feed-in tariffs will go
live in December), he says. Stake-
holders, too, have to understand the
importance of preserving the environ-
ment to make Iskandar Malaysia the
most liveable and sustainable metropo-
lis in the region. In order to realise a
low carbon society, Iskandar Malaysia
has to have new and bold policies to
encourage and promote businesses
and citizens to take these countermea-
sures, Ho says.
Early intervention
will help save
millions of ringgit
from being spent
on remedial work
some 20 years
down the road
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Five agship zones of Iskandar Malaysia
Flagship Key economic activities Key players
Flagship A:
Johor Bahru City
Financial services, commerce and retail, arts
and culture, hospitality, urban tourism, plastic
manufacturing, electrical & electronics, and food
processing
Financial institutions: Citigroup, HSBC and Kuwait
Finance House
Manufacturers: YKK, Celestica, Lion Group, Sumitomo
and Kerrys Ingredients
Developers: Danga Bay Holdings, Pelangi, Mah Sing
and Crescendo
Flagship B: Nusajaya Mixed property development, government
administration and logistics. Hub for creative arts
& entertainment, medical facilities, educational
institutions, tourism, biotechnology and hi-tech
manufacturing
UEM Land, Iskandar Investment Berhad and Mulpha
International Bhd, SP Setia
In 2007, the Middle Eastern Consortium (Mubadala,
Kuwait Finance House and Millennium Development)
and Iskandar Investment Berhad signed a MoU to
develop a US$1.2 billion integrated international city,
referred to as Medini
Flagship C: Western
Gate Development
Port and marine services, warehousing, logistics,
engineering, hi-tech manufacturing, food
production, petrochemical industry, entreport
trade, power generation
MMC Corp Bhd, via shareholdings in Port of Tanjung
Pelepas (PTP) and Tanjung Bin Power
Flagship D: Eastern
Gate Development
Electrical and electronics (E&E), chemical,
oleochemical, food and engineering-based
industries, ports, logistics and warehousing. Has the
largest concentration of palm oil rening industries
and downstream activities in the world
Bahru Steel, Panasonic, Titan, Kiswire, Western
Digital and IOI Loders
Flagship E: Senai-Skudai Airport services, engineering, electrical &
electronics, and education. Hub for agro & food
processing, ICT and retail tourism
Senai International Airport, Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia (UTM), Lee Rubber, Boustead, Genting
Property, IOI Properties and Johor Corporation
Source: Iskandar Malaysia
people
Future-proong our planet
John Elkington, 62, the man who in the 90s coined the triple bottom line of people, planet and prot, is now
pushing the idea that systemic change is essential for the survival of the human race. Ann Teoh heard him speak
at the Singapore International Foundations Ideas for a Better World Forum entitled Zeronauts A New Breed
of Leaders.
Founding partner and executive
chairman of Volans (a consultancy
working on sustainability,
entrepreneurship and
innovation) since 2008, and co-
founder of SustainAbility
Recognised by The Evening Standard
(London) as one of the 1000 Most
Inuential People in 2008. The
CSR International survey of the Top
100 CSR leaders voted him No 4 in
2009. In August 2001, he was named
among the 100 Global SustainAbility
Leaders for 2011 by ABC Carbon
and the SustainAbility Showcase
Asia, based on nominations and
recommendations received from
around the globe
Sits on 25 boards or advisory boards.
Also on the council of ambassadors
for WWF
His latest book, The Zeronauts, will be
released in March 2012
For author and visionary John
Elkington, innovative sustainability is
not about ddling with bits and pieces
of new technology, nor is it about
doing good works or even carrying out
corporate social responsibility (CSR)
activities, which unfortunately, is what
too many CEOs think sustainability
is all about. Elkington believes
that unless we change the worlds
economic system, the planet will not
be able to sustain its growing human
population, which has just surpassed
7 billion.
To him, technology and policy
are not the barriers; capital is. Capital
needs to be re-deployed and some
parts of the economy must be de-
stroyed (Elkington likes economist Jo-
seph Schumpeters term creative de-
struction) in the pursuit of sustainable
innovation. Genuine sustainability calls
for initiatives that are broader, deeper
and almost insanely ambitious, to
quote the words used by Elkington
himself to describe Unilevers recent
bold moves towards greater corporate
sustainability.
The following are some of his
thoughts on securing the future of
businesses and the rest of the planet:
Impermanence of green rankings
Last week [in October] saw the
launch of the Newsweek Green
Rankings 2011. I have been on the
judging panel and its exciting to see
companies from Asia, for example
Tata from India, agged out in these
rankings. I published a blog posting on
the Newsweek site that coincided with
these rankings, and the point I made
is simple but very important: I think
these sorts of rankings, even though
they drive interest in big businesses in
these sorts of issues and challenges,
are misleading.
The next decade may see a
profound economic shift. Many of the
companies that are at the top of these
rankings may not even exist in ten
years. They may go quiet, or in some
cases, even go bankrupt. We need to
keep these thoughts at the back of our
mind.
Urgent challenges
A survey was done among experts on
corporate social responsibility and
sustainability elds around the world,
and the question was What do you
see as the most urgent challenges?
People would have imagined climate
change would come out top, but well,
water came tops!
But if you look at the deeper
message there, there were 12 urgent
priorities: clean water shortage,
climate change, poverty, loss of
biodiversity, food security, economic
instability, undernutrition, corporate
accountability, diseases (eg, malaria,
HIV/AIDS), air pollution, ocean
acidication, and persistent bio-
accumulative toxins. Once again, we
are seeing evidence of a systemic
challenge.
Need for intervention
For some of these urgent issues,
business can do a great deal, if given
the right incentives and guidance.
But there are a bunch of things (lack
of clean water, loss of biodiversity,
poverty, economic instability, food
security and under-nutrition) that
are really problematic for individual
companies or even for business,
overall, to deal with. So this is a plea
not just for business involvement
but for investment institutions and
governments to also have crucial roles
in all these.
Sustainability not just about CSR
In an Accenture study for the United
Nations Global Compact, 766 CEOs
were interviewed and 88% think
they should drive [sustainability] like
Walmart did, and integrate it through
Policy is not the main
issue here, although it is
important. Technology,
again, is not the main
issue. The real problem
is capital
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supply chain. But to me, the real killer
was when I saw that 81% of the CEOs
around the world think they have
already embedded sustainability in
their businesses.
I really do not think that they are
lying but I dont think they are telling
us the truth either, because what I
think they have embedded often is
CSR in its various forms, stakeholder
engagement reporting, whatever. They
may have achieved sustainability of
sorts, but not sustainability as I would
understand it.
Cost of being sustainable
In terms of the reputation or proles
of leading multinational corporations,
its interesting to look at Unilever,
which very recently made very bold
announcements about their strategic
targets in the sustainability space
for example, their target to increase,
by 2020, their sustainable sources of
[agricultural] raw materials from 10%
to 100% [Unilevers Sustainable Living
Plan]. Thats an immense challenge.
Some of you may know that the
top management of Unilever were
called in to see the government in
Indonesia, and asked the question:
Are you serious about this sustainable
palm oil? Are you really serious?
Because if you are serious, its going
to cost you politically. You start to see
the political games being played out
and Paul Polman, the CEO, is probably
well-prepared for it, but many other
companies may not be.
From 768 g to 6 g per dollar
This target is the working of
environmental economist Tim Jackson
but it is being used by the Carbon War
Room [a non-prot project created by
Sir Richard Branson to facilitate capital
ow to entrepreneurial solutions to
climate change]. Basically, for every
dollar of GDP, we use or produce
768 g of carbon. [According to
Jackson, the gure needs to go down
to 6 g to avoid climate change.]
It is inconceivable, but its got to
be done.
The Carbon War Room, in looking
at all these, basically says policy is
not the main issue here, although it is
important. Technology, again, is not
the main issue. The real problem is
capital.
Four-minute mile of sustainability
In the late 1940s and early 1950s,
if you were a pilot and you were in
a very fast plane, youd suddenly
slam into something in mid-air
over time [people] started to call it
the sound barrier. They thought it
was impenetrable but it turned out
to be penetrable. Around about the
same time, you remember the four-
minute mile. Again, it was felt to be
physiologically impossible to run a
mile in a faster time than four minutes,
but within a year of Roger Bannister
getting through, 16 people had gone
through. So the problem was in our
brains. I think that is where we are in
sustainability.
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Within a year of Roger Bannister
running a mile under 4 minutes,
16 people had gone through. So the
problem was in our brains. I think
that is where we are in sustainability
In his 1997 book Cannibals with Forks, John Elkington coined
the phrase triple bottom line to describe a holistic, long-term
accounting of business success that achieves sustainability by
collectively addressing economic prosperity, environmental
quality and social justice.
Survey on Sustainability Leadership 2011
Unilever
General Electric
Interface
Walmart
Marks & Spencer
Natura
Patagonia
Toyota
Novo Nordisk
Co-operative
Shell
Coca-Cola
DuPoint
Ford
IBM
Ikea
Johnson & Johnson
Nestl
Nike
Nokia
Philips
P&G
Rio Tinto
Siemens
Timberland
15
12
12
11
8
5
5
5
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
In March this year, SustainAbility and
GlobeScan asked 559 sustainability
experts from 66 countries via an
online survey:
Some large companies
are committed to sustainable
development, seeing strategic
advantage in pursuing policies
and actions which go beyond the
requirements of environmental and
social legislation. What individual
companies can you name that are
leading in this area?
Unilever on the heels of
launching their Sustainable Living
Plan is perceived as an outright
leader in sustainability.
The survey respondents, 56%
with more than 10 years experience
working on sustainability issues,
were drawn from the corporate,
government, non-governmental and
academic/research sectors.
Note: Figures in chart expressed as percentages
people
Global energy in the 21st century
Nobuo Tanaka, 61, who stepped down as executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in September
after a four-year stint, took centre stage at the recent Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW). David Lee
brings you the highlights of his o-the-cu lecture on the global energy security situation.
Born out of the 1973 oil crisis that
brought many countries to their
knees, the Paris-based IEA keeps a
constant nger on the pulse of world
oil markets and other energy sectors,
and has increasingly focused on the
development of renewable energy
sources. To ensure there is no repeat
of the 1973 oil price crisis, every IEA
member country has to maintain oil
stock equivalent to at least 90 days
of the previous years net imports,
collectively referred to as a strategic
stockpile to neutralise unusual price
movements.
On June 23rd, for the third time
in its history, the IEA announced
a decision to release part of its oil
stockpile to counter supply disruptions
in Libya then. This had the preemptive
effect of prices which had then
marched past the US$100 per barrel
mark dropping immediately.
In his lecture, Tanaka painted a
background of a world where uncertain
energy supply is a global concern,
linked as it inextricably is to economic
growth. And that uncertainty nds its
origins in many different unexpected
events. Recent ones are the March
11th Fukushima nuclear power plant
disaster in Japan, which has brought
nuclear power supply to zero, forcing
emergency changes in energy policy,
and of course, the Arab Spring that is
still being played out. The Eurozones
debt crisis is another.
All these uncertainties are
interacting with each other, making
it a huge challenge for all policy
makers in the world. The IEA has been
warning that US$100 oil price will
certainly derail economic growth for all
countries. And it seems to be the case
that the global economy is slowing
down. This year, if the US$100 price
continues, it will be as bad as 2008
(when oil hit US$147 per barrel),
says Tanaka, adding that the problem
is more serious for Asias emerging
economies. These are the other issues
that he spoke about:
Impact of the strategic stockpile
The impact of IEAs strategic stockpile
will decline through to 2035. If
China, India and ASEAN countries
start a strategic stockpile of 90 days,
their impact will grow and grow. To
maintain the impact that IEA has now,
we need to work with these emerging
economies. There are several options
for growing Asia. Join the IEA as full
members, or you can build a new IEA
for Asia. But these countries in Asia
must be serious about oil security for
the future, either way.
The Golden Age of Gas
China, India and ASEAN countries
are using more gas because it is
less carbon intense. There is also
development in non-conventional
gas, the so-called shale gas, coal bed
methane, in North America, China and
Australia. Thanks to this huge possible
future supply, we may see a different
world. A different geopolitics of gas.
This is very good for energy security.
Because the world will use more gas,
that means more CO
2
. Unfortunately,
the Golden Age of Gas is good for
producers but not for sustainability.
What happened in Fukushima will
have an impact on gas supply as Japan
will have to look for energy sources
to compensate for the huge drop in
One country cannot
enhance its energy
security by risking
somebody elses.
The (climate change)
negotiators in Durban
should talk more
seriously about
adaptation, rather
than mitigation.
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Nobuo Tanaka: Painted a background of a world where uncertain energy supply is a global concern
supply from nuclear plants. The gas
market will be tighter as a result.
Renewable energy
Renewables is a very important solu-
tion, especially in emerging economies
like China and India. Towards 2035,
China will increase by six times its
power generation from renewables,
India four times more. But renew-
able energy is very costly although
technological advancement has led to
declining costs. But you also have to
design carefully the electricity market.
It is not only technology; without smart
grid or good markets, you cannot truly
utilise the potential. Japan has one of
the poorest potentials in terms of using
renewables because its grid system
is not interconnected. The system is
very weak and, unfortunately, we have
recommended for years to strengthen
this grid system but Japan learnt a very
painful lesson on March 11th.
Nuclear option after Fukushima
To understand Japanese politics is dif-
cult. The situation on nuclear is cha-
otic. There is so much concern about
safety among the public. It is very dif-
cult to predict when the government
will decide on restarting the use of
nuclear power. If it does not do so, do
we just waste 3 trillion yen (more than
US$39 billion) to let the nuclear power
plants idle? This is irrational. Ratio-
nally and logically speaking, it should
start very quickly early next year.
I talked with many ministers of
the IEA last week. What do you want
Japan to do? Almost nobody said stop
nuclear. They say Japan should con-
tinue nuclear but with safer technology
and share lessons from Fukushima.
Sustainability constraints
The IEA was aiming for 50%
reduction of CO
2

by 2050. What
are the necessary technologies (to
achieve that)? Efciency, renewables,
nuclear, carbon capture and storage
(CCS). After Fukushima, nuclear is
not that useable, which is as IEA
had expected. So we can say, very
bluntly, that the 2050 scenario is not
possible. Last year, when I came here,
I said it is very difcult. This year,
we can say it is almost impossible.
The [climate change] negotiators in
Durban, South Africa, should talk more
seriously about adaptation, rather than
mitigation.
How Asia should act
Asia, as a growing centre for energy
demand, should prepare for the future.
We need to start discussing what
the future is for Asia. Our Japanese
experience shows that we have to
collectively think of the future of
energy security, just as the Europeans
do. Green growth paradigm, yes;
every option should be maintained
efciency, renewable, nuclear, electric
vehicles, smart grid, everything. We
need all these options open. We need
all the technologies. Gas is a very
important bridging source for now.
So, invest in shale gas, methane,
in any place in the world, and the
infrastructure to supply them.
Coal is important, but it locks in CO
2

emissions. So, CCS or more efcient
coal power plants are important pre-
requisities to use coal in future.
Comprehensive energy security
Oil is getting less and less important in
total energy supply. Twentieth century
security is oil price security but the
21st centurys would be the stable
supply of electricity using different
The Golden Age of
Gas is good for the
producer, but not for
sustainability.
sources coal, oil, gas, renewables,
nuclear, hydro and tapping new
technologies like the smart grid.
An IEA minister in Paris last
week decided to go much further
in [discussing the] comprehensive
energy security concept. Some Asian
countries were invited to discuss it. As
IEA executive director, I talked with
producer countries, ministers of oil
and the secretary-general for OPEC
[Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries] and I also talked to Chinese
leaders and a Russian oil minister
about how we have to work together,
we have to have good dialogue,
because IEA has learnt a lesson from
its creation that one country cannot
enhance its energy security by risking
somebody elses. And that is what
I want to share with you as former
executive director of IEA.
Real challenge for FiT
Many mistakes were made by some
countries. If the level of feed-in tariff
(FiT) is too high, the bubble starts
to form. When investments build up
to a high level [too high], the bubble
will always burst. The challenge
is to make the FiT predictable and
exible at the same time. This is a real
challenge. But in general, there is a
strong undercurrent of moving towards
renewables. Bloombergs new energy
nances investment numbers show
it is not declining but the pace has
slowed down.
Primary energy demand: North America and Asia
By 2035, primary energy demand of Asia will double from the current level, reecting high economic
growth; 3.9 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) (2009) 7.6 billion toe (2035)
Non-OECD will represent 90% of incremental growth of global energy demand toward 2035
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1
9
7
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1
9
8
0
1
9
9
0
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
9
2
0
2
0
2
0
3
0
2
0
3
5
Average annual growth rate
19802009 20092035
Asia 4.6% 2.6%
North America 0.7% 0.4%
Asia
3.9 bil toe
7.6 bil toe
North America
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Balancing the energy equation
Chief executive o cer of Malaysias Energy Commission Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Hasan speaks to our writer, Stephen Ng, on a
number of issues, from safety aspects involving installations to the grid to energy e ciency and nuclear power plants.
While there is a lot of hype over Ma-
laysias feed-in tariff (FiT), safety is
also very important. What is the role
of the Energy Commission?
While the Sustainable Energy Devel-
opment Authority of Malaysia (SEDA
Malaysia) administers the FiT scheme,
our role is to ensure power generators
meet all electrical safety requirements.
[This] is done through licensing and
registration. Except for photovoltaic
(PV) generating systems producing not
more than 72 kWp for three-phase in-
stallations and 24 kWp for single phase
installations, the others have to apply
for a licence from the Energy Commis-
sion that is valid for 21 years. However,
installations of more than 5 kW need to
be registered with us.
Renewable energy (RE) project de-
velopers must engage registered elec-
trical contractors for RE installations.
The operation of electrical installations
must also be under the control of
engineers, supervisors or chargemen,
depending on installation size.
Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has
announced that it will have to spend
up to RM3 billion to generate elec-
tricity because of a gas crunch in the
power sector. This sort of problem
will continue as long as TNB depends
on Petronas for subsidised gas. Your
views?
In Malaysia, there is an overdepen-
dence on natural gas for power genera-
tion. Gas is still the cheapest source
of fuel, compared to petrol, distillate
(diesel), fuel oil and coal. Where the
industry once used diesel, they started
converting to gas in the 90s. Over the
years, driven by the heavily subsidised
and stable gas price, there has been
such an increase in gas consumption
that the supply is now unable to meet
the demand, and our supply infrastruc-
tures have been stretched to the limit.
This has resulted in frequent
breakdowns and major planned shut-
downs of offshore gas production fa-
cilities for repair and maintenance. The
re at Bekok C Platform operated by
Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, 200 km off
Terengganu, in December 2010, and
breakdowns of coal-red power plants
further compounded the problem in
the power sector.
When there is a gas supply
shortfall, power producers have to use
distillates to run their gas turbines and
maximise the operation of coal-red
power plants. This is an expensive way
of generating power and it accelerates
the degradation of the plants. We have
been working with Petronas, TNB,
independent power producers and the
major oil producers to manage this
situation to ensure uninterrupted sup-
ply of gas and electricity.
What is the government doing to
solve the shortfall in the supply of
natural gas?
The latest initiatives undertaken by the
government through Petronas include:
Development of marginal elds.
Petronas is developing in phases
marginal offshore elds under a new
risk service contract (RSC) petroleum
arrangement. Recently, Petronas
awarded a RSC for the Berantai
eld (offshore Peninsular Malaysia)
to the Petrofac-Kencana-Sapura
partnership, which is planned to
come onstream early next year.
Increasing imported gas. Petronas
has been negotiating with Indonesia,
Thailand and Vietnam to bring in
more piped gas through existing
transborder pipelines. By August
2012, the rst LNG regasication
terminal in Malacca will be
commissioned to import gas. This
will be an open access system that
allows not only Petronas but also
other interested industry players
to import gas into the Peninsula.
Another LNG regasication terminal
in Johor will be commissioned in
2016. However, we must be willing
to pay market price for this imported
gas.
The government wants to withdraw
subsidies for fuel completely in four
years. Is this do-able?
We have to face reality. We have been
importing oil and gas to replace supply
from depleted elds, and to meet
burgeoning local demand. Supply
infrastructure and operation costs
have also been rising. Subsidies will
ultimately result in the gas supply
industry becoming unsustainable
since they discourage development
of new energy resources and tend to
encourage irresponsible consumption.
Subsidies also benet the rich.
Under the governments plan,
gas and electricity subsidies will be
withdrawn by 2016. We think it is
do-able. It will be a gradual process.
The government will look at fuel price
The lighter side of Ahmad Fauzi
Married to Zaweiyah Haron. They
have three children
Likes books on business,
management, leadership and
self-development. Keeps himself
updated about industry by
reading technical books, articles
and magazines, including Green
Purchasing Asia
Jogs regularly
In his student days, his favourite
genre was Progressive rock. He
used to play the guitar. These
days, his favourite songs are the
Energy Commissions corporate
and energy awareness songs.
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every six months, and revise the prices
based on market conditions.
Besides the FiT, what other measures
are undertaken by the government to
promote renewables?
Malaysia has great potential for re-
newables. Solar PV has the potential
to generate as much as 6,500 MW,
followed by biomass and biogas from
palm oil mill waste (1,300 MW). Inves-
tors should tap into these potentials
with the FiT.
Between 2006 and 2010, we
funded the SURIA 1000 programme
under the Malaysia Building Integrated
Photovoltaic (MBIPV) Project and 1.2
MW of solar electrical energy was
generated.
Whether the government will
introduce new initiatives to reduce the
cost of installing solar PV, I cant say,
but I am optimistic many investors are
queuing up to enter the renewable en-
ergy sector because of the FiT scheme.
The FiT has been proven to work in a
number of countries. The FiT scheme,
assures access to the grid for the suc-
cessful bidder. A simplied Renewable
Energy Power Purchase Agreement
has also been introduced to facilitate
implementation.
We have also simplied the
licencing process for renewable energy
power plants. To avoid delays, provi-
sional licences will be issued in under
a month. We have also prepared the
licencing guidelines.
Since 2001, the government has
Cutting back to get ahead
Increasing energy e ciency and minimis-
ing wastage is an essential if somewhat
less glamorous part of sustainable
energy management. Energy Commision
CEO Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Hasan elaborates
on the commissions current eorts in this
area:
Initiatives to improve energy e ciency
Were building the capacity of industry
players through workshops and seminars.
Weve also been working with the
Malaysian Investment Development
Authority (MIDA) on scal incentives
for energy e ciency projects such as
cogeneration and high e ciency motor
programmes.
Weve also implemented the energy
e ciency labelling scheme for household
appliances. Under the Sustainability
Achieved Via Energy E ciency (SAVE)
programme, buyers of electrical
appliances with a ve-star rating in
energy e ciency are given rebates of up
to RM200.
Last year, with our advice, the
government announced the phasing
out of incandescent light bulbs starting
from 2011 to 2013. Next year, we
plan to introduce Minimum Energy
Performance Standards regulations
and collaborate with SIRIM (Malaysias
national organisation for industry
standards and quality) to test and allow
only appliances that meet the minimum
energy performance standards (MEPS) to
be imported into or manufactured in the
country.
Identifying big users, building new
expertise
After the E cient Management of
Electrical Energy Regulations 2008
came into force in December 2008, we
embarked on a nationwide awareness
programme. Then we started to monitor
consumers, who consume 3,000,000 kWh
or more over six consecutive months.
These include energy guzzlers in the
iron, steel, electronics, petrochemical
and cement industries and those in the
commercial and government sectors.
There are 1,467 companies and agencies
on our list.
At the same time, we developed
competency requirements and conducted
tests for registered energy managers.
Today, there are 166 registered energy
managers. Energy guzzlers have to
engage the services of registered energy
managers who then regularly report to us.
Big picture: Raising system e ciency
What is also important is improving
the e ciency of the entire power
system. Hence, we have embarked on
a competitive bidding exercise for new
capacity plant-ups. A 25-year power
purchase agreement (PPA) concession
with competitive rates was recently
awarded to Transpool Sdn Bhd to build
and operate a 1,000 MW supercritical
coal-red power plant. The supercritical
technology is 3% more e cient than
conventional plants, and hence, requires
less fuel.
Future new generation capacity
plant-ups will be based on the
competitive bidding approach. Recently,
we have worked with utilities to further
reduce non-technical losses, which is
about 2 to 2.5% of electricity sales.
Slow to change: Lumbering guzzlers
We have yet to see signicant
improvement. In fact, it has been more
or less at over the last decade, at about
0.18 GWh/RM million GDP at 2000 prices.
Two years is too short to assess the
impact of the e cient electrical energy
management regulations. But generally,
eorts by our energy professionals to get
companies to invest in energy e ciency
have not been very successful. I suppose
this can be attributed to our countrys
relatively low energy prices, such that
there is no urgency to improve energy
e ciencies.
This is unfortunate since studies
have shown that business owners can save
about 5% of their energy consumption
through prudent practices alone.
Energy guzzlers like steel mills have to work harder on improving their energy e ciency
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INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION
WEEK (ICW) 2012
been giving scal incentives through
the Malaysian Investment Development
Authority (MIDA) under the Small
Renewable Energy Programme. There
are tax breaks such as the pioneer
status or investment tax allowance for
companies that implement renewable
energy projects. In 2010, loan
interest subsidy and loan guarantees
were introduced under the Green
Technology Financing Scheme (GTFS).
To support RE initiatives, institutions
such as SEDA, GreenTech Corporation
and various R&D centres at universities
were set up.
Earlier, the government was bullish
on nuclear energy. But with the
Fukushima disaster, has the nuclear
project been shelved?
There are no decisions yet on the
nuclear project. I understand the
government, through agencies such as
Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation
(MNPC) and Atomic Energy Licens-
ing Board (AELB), is still studying the
nuclear option considering the instabil-
ity of the nuclear plant in Japan fol-
lowing the earthquake. These studies
include a comprehensive evaluation of
the countrys preparedness and public
acceptance. A decision will have to be
made within two to three years.
What else can the industry expect in
the near future?
The Energy Commission is
implementing mechanisms to motivate
utilities to be more efcient and
effective in their supply. One is the
Incentive-based Tariff Regulation,
which we hope to implement by 2013
for piped gas and 2015 for electricity
utilities. We hope to reward utilities
for reducing costs and improving
services. Base tariffs and performance
targets will be set every three or ve
years and savings will be shared
between the utilities and consumers.
We have prepared the regulatory
implementation guidelines.
Next year, we will gradually
enforce mandatory performance
standards for electricity supply services
in the Peninsula. Rebates will be given
to affected consumers on a claimable
basis if the utility performs below
expectations.
Our national utility has recently
launched three smart grid pilot proj-
ects in the Peninsula to enable more
RE to be injected into the grid, and to
improve energy efciency.
We hope to reward
utilities for reducing
costs and improving
services. Savings will
be shared between the
utilities and consumers.
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo us
Briomedia Green Sdn Bhd (924679-H) 3-3 Jalan Solaris 2, Solaris Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +603 6203 7681 (Malaysia)
Tel: +65 9068 0184 (Singapore) Fax: +603 6211 2681 Email: editor@greenpurchasingasia.com Marketing & sales Yong Wang Ching
(Malaysia) +6012 205 7928, Lim Wan Tsau (Singapore) +65 9068 0184 Subscription & circulation Yap Eng Jin
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo uu
Sustainability out of the box
Dr Prasad Modak is
chairman of the Green
Purchasing Network of
India. His email is prasad.
modak@emcentre.com
Global green packaging industry expected to double revenues in ve years
Underpackaging can cause wastage and harm the environment too
editorial cnrsoN roo1riN1
When we evaluate the greenness
of a product, the type and extent
of packaging should also be part
of the assessment. While a product
could be green, its packaging may
not. Packaging accounts for nearly
10% of the environmental impact
of anything bought. In estimating
the environmental impact of the
packaging, we assess the material
(ie, embodied intensity), its
biodegradability and recyclability, and
the label and method of printing (ink
used).
Consideration of greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions has also
inuenced packaging design and
logistics. The Grocery Manufacturers
Association(GMA) in the United States
has committed to eliminating close
to 2 billion kilograms of packaging
waste nationwide by 2020. If
GMA hits this target, the GHG
emissions reduction will be
equivalent to removing 815,000
cars from the road or to cutting
electricity supply to 363,000 homes
for one year! Environmentally
sensitive packaging on a national scale
can thus help in combating climate
change.
Today, increased consumer
demand has compelled many
companies to make packaging as
sustainable as possible. According
to Indian daily The Hindu, a recent
Associated Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (Assocham) study on the
domestic green packaging industry
reported that rising environmental
concerns about carbon emissions,
dearth of natural resources, together
with increased health awareness
and waste reduction targets are key
drivers of green packaging in India.
The global packaging industry
is estimated to be worth US$429
billion. According to a study by Pike
Research, sustainable packaging will
grow to 32% of the total world market
by 2014, up from just 21% in 2009,
and nearly double in revenue from
US$88 billion to US$170 billion within
the same period.
As more regulations are
implemented in line with extended
producer responsibility (EPR)
principles, packaging has become
a key cost consideration. To reduce
cost, sustainable packaging minimises
materials used (eg, reduced layers
of packaging) while maximising
recycled content, recyclability and
recovery value, and promotes reuse of
packaging. Following these principles
of sustainability, therefore, enhances
protability and establishes ones
brand as being responsible.
bamboo to protect certain devices and
two-thirds of Dells portable devices,
are expected to ship in bamboo by the
end of 2011. Not only is bamboo lo-
cally available, reducing costs of trans-
portation, but it also grows quickly and
is strong and durable. Plus, bamboo
packaging is biodegradable and can be
composted after use.
In the excitement to reduce pack-
aging, however, it must be remem-
bered that underpackaging is also
not desirable. A recent report by the
Global Packaging Project states that
the environmental risks of underpack-
aging can be greater than excessive
packaging. By reducing packaging
excessively, products get damaged in
transit, requiring re-manufacturing and
redistribution in order to replace the
original items. There are costs and li-
abilities, too, for disposing of damaged
or rejected products. A careful balance
is needed so as not to go overboard
with sustainability efforts that end up
backring.
In designing sustainable packag-
ing, therefore, every manufacturer
literally has to think out of the box
and yet be practical cleverly balanc-
ing materials and processes to reduce
cost and environmental impact while
ensuring product security.
As discerning consumers, we
must judge a product in its totality
not just how green it is but also how
smart and sustainable is the packaging
around it. Packaging counts!
Every manufacturer
has to think out of the
box and be practical
balancing materials
and processes to
reduce cost and
environmental impact
while ensuring product
security
Dells Streak tablet,
Venue smartphones and
many laptop models are among the
products that now ship in the companys
environmentally-preferable bamboo packaging.
Bamboo used by Dell is certied by the
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to ensure
responsible sourcing
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It is not surprising, therefore,
to see growing commitments to, and
innovations in, eco-friendly packaging.
EnviroPAK in North America, for
example, uses complex recycled paper
pulp for packing electronic goods.
The company claims that opting for
paper pulp in the place of expanded
polystyrene can save up to 70% in
packing and shipping costs.
Sustainable packaging encour-
ages innovation. While the use of recy-
cled paper in packaging is a common
option, Dell has pioneered the use of
Shel Horowitz is the
primary author of Guerilla
Marketing Goes Green.
He can be reached at shel@
greenandprotable.com
Hard-nosed tactics for soft selling
Ideas on how to draw attention to your services, without the hard sell
Relationship-building is the key to achieving long-term trust and goals
editorial crccN Hnrkc1iNc
Last month, we discussed why hypey,
in-your-face marketing doesnt work
for the green market, and looked at
how to segment your marketing mes-
sages for different audiences. This
month, lets take it a step further,
and look at one of the most powerful
(and least expensive) of all marketing
methods: providing helpful, useful,
actionable information that leads your
prospect to consider you not only the
expert, but the company to go to, when
they need what you do.
There are dozens of ways to do
this. You will want to nd the ones that
are in tune with your audiences pref-
erences and tastes. A few examples:
Get in front of your best prospects as
a speaker
Teach an ongoing course
Lead or be a featured guest on ex-
pert tele-seminars, webinars, and
chats
Join some Internet communities in
your eld of interest, and participate
helpfully, answering questions and
giving advice (this single strategy did
more to turn my own business from
a tiny consulting practice serving my
own local area to the successful in-
ternational business it is today)
Prepare a series of white papers or
special reports illuminating certain
confusing aspects of your industry
and help people make good deci-
sions
Conduct a survey and release the re-
sults to major and trade media with
some juicy summing-up quotes
Become a published author pub-
lishing a book makes you an auto-
matic expert, impresses a whole lot
of people, and is much easier than it
used to be
Get quoted in major media not as
hard as you may think and then
send the clips or links to your pros-
pects
Create and distribute your own e-
zine or printed newsletter (e-zine is
greener and cheaper, but in some
situations, print may be more effec-
tive) and then later repurpose these
articles by placing them on article
banks such as ezinearticles.com
or ideamarketers.com (if you have
enough of these articles, and they
categorise neatly, you can even turn
them into a book later)
Write your own blog and post to it at
least twice a week (more is better)
Be a guest blogger or columnist for
other peoples publications, includ-
ing high-status expert sites like
Examiner.com, Ask.com, and Triple
Pundit.com
Share great articles, podcasts, stud-
ies, and other resources in your eld
on social media such as Twitter,
Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook
(two tips: First, no more than 10
to 20% of these resources should
point to your own stuff and second,
software tools can automate some of
this, for example automatically feed-
ing your blog into your Facebook
business page and LinkedIn prole)
Since the green market really
craves information, as we discussed
last month, you are actually doing
your prospects a service by providing
access to the information they seek.
Provide the information, answer their
questions, help them solve a problem
or meet a need and do it all with a
friendly and approachable tone. And
then it probably wont be long before
your prospects start coming to you and
saying things like, I really enjoyed
your article in Green Purchasing Asia.
Do you ever consult individually with
retail stores? Id like to hire you.
While old-fashioned push market-
ing is intrusive and even offensive,
nobody gets offended when you simply
place pertinent, helpful, well-written
information in front of your prospects:
information thats easy to access, easy
to understand, and easy to implement.
What you are actually doing is
creating a relationship and marketing
based on that relationship. You build
trust, condence, and a sense that you
can help with their problems or goals.
Instead of going for the quick hit and
expecting people to take action on the
basis of interrupting them, you become
a presence over time, showing up plea-
surably in their mailboxes and social
networks, and at the green conferences
and trade shows they attend.
Another advantage is that, unlike
push marketers who have to pay to
place their ads, you are reaching your
prospects for free, and sometimes even
getting paid to do your own market-
ing.
Share great articles, podcasts, studies, and other resources in your eld on social media such as Twitter,
Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook
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Dr Bruce Piasecki is
president and founder of
management consulting
rm AHC Group
(www.ahcgroup.com)
Mammoth opportunities
in megacities
Megacities inspire us to dream big, and make us sense a larger purpose
They are places where the demand for quality, price, style and social response unite
editorial
The great and lasting megacities
like Athens, Paris, New York, London,
Sidney and Calgary have evolved
through the relentless competition
for higher and higher efciencies
of labour, resources, and capital
embodied in global capitalism. I am
not claiming these lead to paradise, or
smarter citizens, or better policy for
our near future. I am simply observing
how efciency comes about.
These cities are open to
innovation, diversity, and to expert
inputs. They compete on the edge, a
place where the demand for quality,
price, style, and social response unite.
They aspire to host the Olympics,
as well as festivals both musical and
London is choking with automobiles
and on-the-street drinkers. Athens
alone holds half the population of the
6,000Greek islands, and my translator
into Greek talks of daily congestion
that chokes. But in general, the great
cities have embraced globalisation
in a more intelligent way than the
rest. They are going global and going
greener at the same time.
I believe that the changes in this
new century boil down to two related
things: globalisation of more efcient
goods and services, and our shared
sustainability demands.
This is what William Throop, the
provost of Green Mountain College,
meant when he said the global
exchange are very different from those
in our past based on farming.
While many articulate critics
of urbanisation lament this cultural
development, I see it as the blue sky
of hope and resourcefulness amid
the clouds of sprawl. Of course,
I, too, hate the waste inherent in
ribbon developments. To note Throop
again, The real social dimension in
competing on sustainability is that
it gives the world a problem-solving
disposition. It is the kind of urban
encounter that helps humans learn
how to develop the capacity to draw
things out of a group, and achieve the
wisdom of teams.
You can question whether it is
right, or all for the best, but you cannot
really question why rising populations
and the corporate race to efciency
t together in megacities like a hand in
a glove. Maybe it is better to think of
them as active and engaged sisters.
I believe that this very important
historical development boils down to a
new way of understanding value both
the value in ones rm and the value of
ones role as an economic instrument
shaping a responsible society.
Megacities make all of us sense
a larger purpose and our role in it. By
their very nature, they inspire us to
dream big and suggest that we can
become more. They are the beehive
in which we see our honey; they give
us our direction and our sense of what
we must protect. And the companies
that survive in this challenging new
millennium will need to nd new and
lasting ways to answer key social
questions about poverty, mobility,
and energy diversity now.
This is an edited excerpt from Bruce
Piaseckis new book Doing More with
Less: The New Way to Wealth. The John
Wiley and Sons book will be released on
February 12th, 2012
By Bruce Piasecki
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athletic. One can nd them on the map
of the great rockand roll tours. And
most signicantly, they are all teeming
with the logic of advanced capitalism,
from the multi-speed world of Asia
(witness Singapore or the new coastal
China cities) to the mature economies
of Europe and North America. The
competitive and the frugal thrive in
these cities.
Of course, no city is perfect.
It was not so long ago that the
suburbs of Paris erupted in riots.
benet of frugality is that it moves
our emphasis from nancial capital to
social capital. He rened his claim
by noting how frugality enters the city
and commerce as a rich means to
buffer individualism by building and
maintaining robust social networks.
You see it in the jazz clubs in any
megacity, in the schools, even in
Starbucks. Humans, when surrounded
by many other humans, become alert
to social networks and social capital.
Economies based on this type of
Megacities make all of us sense a larger purpose and our role in it. By their very nature, they inspire us to
dream big and suggest that we can become more.
cuzzN uucunsNc nsn nzczMszu zo uz
I had a chance to speak to several
optimists recently. They are green
energy entrepreneurs, those who are
innovating and growing companies
as the rest of the world downsizes.
Problems seem to incite their inven-
tiveness. Their inventions are diverse,
but their activities are converging into
some trends:
Silicon Valley and the energy
industry are teaming up more and
more. You cant throw a softball
around here without hitting another
solar company, saidDan Shugar,
Solarias chief operating ofcer,
from Silicon Valley.
Energy is producing its own crop of
rising Mark Zuckerbergs and Steve
Elisa Wood is a long-time
leading energy writer.
She can be reached at
elisawood@gmail.com
Innovators home in on energy
Green energy entrepreneurship picking up pace despite bleak economic climate
Innovations are focusing on empowering consumers and businesses to go green
editorial
By Elisa Wood
Jobs, who I suspect will be the next
generation of business legends.
Perhaps most signicantly, a lot
of todays innovation focuses on
bringing consumers and businesses
greater efciency and control over
energy in their homes and busi-
nesses.
International stock photo agency
Getty Images, which studies how
energy companies speak to consum-
ers through pictures, calls this last
new trend Homing in on Green. It
reports that of late there has been a
40% increase in images that show-
casesmall-scale green such as
peopleswapping old light bulbsfor
energy-efcient ones, or neighbour-
hoods with solar-paneled roofs.
Are these images actually getting
through to people? Do consumers
have any sense of the magnitude of
change occurring in energy and how
it will affect their day-to-day lives? It
seems not. For instance, among the
1,007 US adults who participated in
a September 2011 poll sponsored by
Emerson, 61% were unaware of gov-
ernment nancial incentives they can
receive if they integrate new energy
technologies into their lives.
So, while big things are hap-
pening in energy, consumers by-
and-large dont know it yet. But the
changes are coming, and this time
right to our doorsteps. g g gy , g
Briomedia Green Sdn Bhd (924679-H) 3-3 Jalan Solaris 2, Solaris Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +603 6203 7681
(Malaysia) Tel: +65 9068 0184 (Singapore) Fax: +603 6211 2681 Email: editor@greenpurchasingasia.com Marketing & sales
Yong Wang Ching (Malaysia) +6012 205 7928, Lim Wan Tsau (Singapore) +65 9068 0184 Subscription & circulation Yap Eng Jin
Power play in
ASEAN cooperation
Leaders targetting cross-border cooperation on electricity and fuel
Snapshots: Malaysias FiT, Singapores R&D and self-su ciency in the Philippines
information cNcrcv 1rcNbs
By Mallika Naguran
Ministers from three Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
member countries Malaysia, Singa-
pore and the Philippines came together
as a panel to discuss energy trends and
mix at the second Singapore Interna-
tional Energy Week (SIEW) recently.
They gave their views on the
major drivers that will shape sustain-
able energy mix, an ASEAN energy
community, the governments role in
stimulating growth and adoption of
renewal energy, and the prospects for
nuclear power.
high performance economy, he adds.
Malaysia relies on gas (46%)
and coal (40%) for its power, with the
remaining needs provided by hydro
and renewable sources. So long as
coal prices are attractive enough for
us, we will continue to want to rely
on coal as part of the energy mix, he
says.
As for gas, a 3.8 million tonnes
per annum offshore gas plant is
being built in Malacca to cater for the
import of natural gas, and should be
operational by August 2012.
introduced the feed-in tariff (FiT), but
the premium paid to [renewable ener-
gy] suppliers will be reduced over time
through tariff degression to achieve
parity with fossil fuel power feeds.
Idris hopes ASEAN will work on
areas for collaboration with regards to
access, pricing, removing the barriers
between the corridors and territories
and how countries can buy electricity
from each other rather than just supply
the fuel.
Philippines self-su ciency
The energy mix should keep every en-
ergy minister awake, not just today, but
in the future, jokes Jose Rene Almen-
dras, Secretary of Energy, Philippines.
The confederation of 7,107 islands
still uses imported coal and oil to pow-
er its economy, and hopes to increase
the import of natural gas, including
liquid natural gas (LNG). Exploration
for gas thus continues.
Self-sufciency is the main driver
for arriving at an optimal energy mix.
We measure self-sufciency from a
Malaysias FiT
Malaysia envisions a 2020 where it
would have more than doubled its
gross national income to about RM1.7
trillion. To get there, it would need an
investment of RM1.4 trillion. It would
also create 3.3 million jobs. There
are 12 areas of focus to help spur this
growth and the biggest of all is oil,
gas and energy, says Datuk Seri Idris
Jala, Minister in the Prime Ministers
Ofce. If we dont place emphasis on
that, it will hamper our growth as a
At the same time, Malaysia en-
courages the development of renew-
able energy sources such as hydro-
power in Sarawak. The Bakun (dam)
project is going on-stream and the
expansion of it will cause it to grow,
he says.
Malaysia is the worlds third larg-
est producer of solar but, says Idris:
we dont use the stuff, we export
them. The conditions were not right for
people to use them.
To get around that, Malaysia has
total primary energy mix; its about
57.5%, of which 46.3% is green, and
renewables are 38.9%.
Almendras says the gures for
power generation look even better:
66.8% is self-sufcient as well as
green as a result of a push towards
clean and renewable sources. Building
upon its status as having the worlds
second largest geothermal grid, the
Philippines is ramping up geothermal
and hydro developments in localised
zones.
Almendras: Self-
su ciency is the
main driver
Idris: Malaysia is
focusing on the oil, gas
and energy sector to
raise national income
Iswaran: The question is
whether we can facilitate
greater cross-border ow
of electrons
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Philippines energy consumption
gures are rather telling of the energy
mix: a reduction was seen in the
use of coal (-7.56%) and oil (-8.4%)
from 2010 to 2011. An increase in
the uptake of natural gas (+10.14%),
geothermal (+18.45%), hydro
(+16.52%), wind (+20.79%) and
biomass (+340.74%) was seen instead.
Another huge component in the
Philippines is energy efciency, and
a number of initiatives are in place to
drive efcient use of energy resources.
Singapore a net importer
In view of a substantial increase
in energy demand forecast for the
next decade, S Iswaran, Singapores
Minister in the Prime Ministers Ofce,
and Second Minister for Trade and
Industry, sees Singapore becoming a
net importer of energy. This is to get
the best possible energy supplies that
are reliable and competitively priced to
meet domestic needs.
Carbon pricing will have to be
considered in view of climate change
considerations, even without an
international agreement on carbon
trading. In the lead-up to a global
regime, even as different countries
consider possible scenarios, we have
to now consider this in our energy mix
from the defence point of view, how we
can factor that in our climate change
considerations, he says.
Apart from energy efciency
and R&D in solar leading to greater
usability in the region, Iswaran wants
to see electricity trading take off.
The question is whether we can
facilitate greater cross-border ow of
electrons as opposed to gas molecules
or other forms of fuel, adding that
infrastructure linkages are needed,
along with regulatory framework and
market pricing.
ASEAN connectivity
ASEAN energy interconnectivity
is a prospect. Iswaran sees the
sub-regional links of power supply
(for instance Laos supplying fuel
to Thailand and Cambodia, and
fuel supply between Malaysia and
Singapore) to be stitched up into a
bigger ASEAN power grid.
But to get there, leadership is
important, stresses Idris. ASEAN
leaders have to agree on forging an
ASEAN energy community, going
beyond national issues. He says:
We have to look at today as well
as the future, look at connectivity
and infrastructure, so that we can
look at the electrons and not just the
molecules.
Iswaran adds that while
governments can conceive regional
connectivity, the private sector has to
execute it. Therefore, it is important
for private companies to be given clear
parameters for long-term investment
and scale opportunities.
Within the broad picture of an
ASEAN-wide network, sub-groups
have to create the building blocks of
economic logic. It could be daunting
to think of ASEAN (grid) as a whole,
but when we think of it as connection
between geographically contiguous
ASEAN member states, to meet each
others needs, then the logic becomes
more apparent and then we can
develop from there, he says.
Governments role
The Malaysian government takes
the role of an arbiter when it comes
to driving the uptake of renewable
energy. With the depletion of
indigenous energy sources, the
government is looking at a sustainable
energy mix. The right conditions for
alternative sources depend on cost,
supply reliability, environmental and
safety issues. In view of that, the
premium paid for renewable energy
via the FiT, coupled with built-in
degression, will allow alternative
energy to reach grid parity. Leaving
it to market forces will not enable the
uptake of renewable energy, says Idris.
The Philippines has both FiT
and Renewable Portfolio Standard
(RPS) mechanisms which are unique,
due to its varied energy mix. FiT
is used particularly to encourage
the development of hydro in small
islands with creeks, and biomass with
foodstock and residual products is
used in agricultural areas.
Singapore, instead of subsidising
the cost of alternative energies, gets
users to pay market prices for its cur-
rent energy supply. It has also chosen
the path of going upstream in R&D,
looking at enhancing the efciency of
solar cells. These give us a certain
momentum in the effort of bringing
some of these alternative energy sourc-
es into the realm of economic realities
so that they can be serious contenders
in the energy mix, he says.
Nuclear ahead
Iswaran and Idris have not ruled out
nuclear power in the decades ahead,
but both ministers stress that safety
is a major consideration. One area
where ASEAN can cooperate on nucle-
ar is safety standards, says Iswaran.
Singapore has started a pre-feasibility
study on nuclear to understand the
limits, trends and implications for
capability development.
The panel of ministers taking questions from the oor at the Singapore Energy Summit
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You cannot manage what you dont
measure goes the old management
adage. In an era where sustainability
is becoming mainstream, businesses
are going beyond quantifying
success through nancial metrics and
increasingly compelled to measure
their impact on the environment.
One of the ways to do this is
to measure a companys carbon
emissions or greenhouse gas (GHG)
inventory. An organisations carbon
footprint or GHG refers to the amount
of carbon and other GHG emissions it
generates directly and indirectly in its
activities, including use of electricity,
fuels, materials and services. Working
out the footprint involves dening the
methodology, specifying the scope,
obtaining data and then calculating the
footprint.
There are many benets to
measuring carbon emissions.
Clearing the air over
carbon bottomlines
Carbon impact reporting often linked with transparency and good risk management
Energy-intensive industries are low-hanging fruits for carbon mitigation gains
information cLiHn1c cnnNcc
By Tan Su-Yin
Carbon emissions are also a
measure of energy usage, and since
energy usage is a critical cost for any
business, improving (ie, reducing) the
level of energy used implies that the
particular business process is more
cost-effective, which in turn would
translate to improved competitiveness
for that product or service, says
K Sadashiv, ASEAN leader of climate
change and sustainability services at
Ernst & Young Advisory Services.
Carbon emissions are a measure
of the pollution created by the
business. Regulators and, increasingly,
customers, do not support industries
that cause higher pollution. Measuring
the level of carbon emissions
therefore provides a business with the
knowledge to simultaneously achieve
cost reduction as well as reduced
pollution.
This, in turn, contributes to a
more positive public image in terms of
corporate social responsibility and also
to more active management of risks
as far as climate change is concerned.
Investors are increasingly demanding
both of management.
Investors and nancial insti-
tutions may consider a companys
environment performance when
making investment decisions or
when authorising debt facilities. They
increasingly link transparent reporting
to an engaged and responsible
management team and reduced risks,
says Chi Mun Woo, director of Climate
Change & Sustainability Services at
KPMG.
The 2011 edition of the annual
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
Global 500 found a strong correlation
between higher nancial returns and
good carbon disclosure and good
carbon management.
Many international investors
have signed on to the UN Principles
for Responsible Investment, which
requires them to take environmental,
social, and corporate governance (ESG)
issues into account when making
investment decisions, adds Woo.
Worth the cost?
Despite the advantages, many
companies are reluctant to take on the
extra costs that inevitably come with
carbon measurement.
What is important to note is that
much of the data required is often
already being captured or available in
the corporates costing system either
as part of the overall breakdown of
process cost or product cost, says
Sadashiv. It is just not being mined
for the specic purpose of footprint
calculations.
In the initial phase, there would
indeed be an incremental cost, and
a small additional cost every year,
he says. The initial cost needs to be
viewed as a cost to be amortised while
the annual running costs would be
marginal. In fact, after the footprint is
determined, the next step is to identify
carbon mitigation opportunities. Often,
the long-term savings more than offset
the costs of the measurement effort
and the short paybacks can be quite
surprising.
The case of carbon emissions
measurement is more compelling for
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Carbon emissions: Much of the data required is often being captured or available in the corporates
costing system either as part of the overall breakdown of process cost or product cost
some companies than for others. As
with any business undertaking, a cost-
benet analysis pays off.
The more energy-intensive
industries are the natural initial targets
for improvement and typically this
includes energy utilities, oil and gas,
chemicals and pharmaceuticals, iron
and steel, foundries, cement, and pulp
and paper, says Sadashiv. The main
impetus within Asia lies amongst the
larger companies who would sooner
rather than later be expected by the
respective governments to set the
trend in pollution control, emissions
measurement and, subsequently,
reporting.
Rashyid Anwarudin, associate
director of PwC Advisory Services
Sdn Bhd, notes that in recent years,
Asian countries have announced
voluntary carbon emissions reduction
targets. In the case of Malaysia, the
Prime Minister announced, at COP15
in Copenhagen 2009, a conditional
voluntary target to reduce emissions
intensity by up to 40% by 2020
compared to 2005 levels. Locally,
were seeing the more progressive
companies measuring their carbon
emissions to (among other reasons)
support the countrys and industries
carbon reduction goals.
Pressure from multinationals
on their suppliers is another driver.
According to a survey released in 2010
by the Carbon Disclosure Project,
the number of corporations pushing
greenhouse gas emissions reporting
and reduction strategies onto their
suppliers is quickly growing and will
likely triple in the next ve years.
Among project members, 89% say
they have plans to require suppliers to
calculate their carbon footprints while
56% say they are even prepared to
go so far as dropping non-compliant
companies from their list of suppliers
in the future. Companies such as Dell,
Walmart and Johnson Controls are
already including carbon criteria in
general supplier evaluation reports or
score cards.
Asian suppliers of products
and services to multinational
corporations (MNCs) are increasingly
being expected to comply with the
requirements that are being set by
their MNC customers, and this trend
can only be expected to strengthen in
the near future, says Sadashiv.
Rashyid adds that as more
multinationals incorporate carbon
performance in their supplier selection
criteria, more companies in Malaysia
will be seeking assistance to measure
their carbon emissions and gain
relevant certications.
In the next issue: How accurate a
measurement of its footprint can a business
expect?
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Biomassive potential in China
High density of biomass power plants in straw-rich regions
Conicting resource use leads to inconsistent policies and erce competition
China aims to boost its installed
biomass power capacity to 13 GW by
2015, representing a rise of 160%
compared to the installed capacity
as of 2010, according to the to-be-
released Renewable Energy Plan
for 20112015. This means that the
country will need to add 500 to 700
biomass power plants by 2015.
Biomass power generation
has gained signicant traction in
the last ve years as major Chinese
power groups such as State Grid
and Guangdong Yudean Group
aggressively sought opportunities to
develop biomass projects throughout
the country.
The biomass power plant
developed by China Everbright
International Ltd in Dangshan, Anhui
province recently started operation,
demonstrating the potential of straw-
based biomass in power generation.
The plant can process 300,000 tonnes
of biomass, providing some 200 million
kWh of electricity and generating an
extra 70 million yuan (about US$11
million) of revenue for local farmers
each year.
The sector is set to grow rapidly
as more companies jump onto the
biomass bandwagon, driven by the
roll-out of supporting policies and
technical breakthroughs, according to
an industry insider.
China has a biomass energy
reserve equivalent to 500 million
tonnes of standard coal, statistics
show. Sources of biomass include
mainly straw, algae, methane and
fallen timber, as well as guano and
domestic animal manure. These
widely-distributed resources can be
used sustainably due to their huge
potential for development and their
minimal impact on the environment,
says Zhou Fengqi, a senior researcher
at the Energy Research Institute of
the National Development and Reform
Commission.
However, limited access to
resources for development has created
a bottleneck for the development of
biomass power generation, in spite
of its many advantages such as low
installation costs and stable output.
Biomass power plants are mostly
located in rural areas where road
and transport conditions are poor,
translating to higher material transport
costs. Investment in the sector remains
spotty.
In order to lure investment and
create new jobs, Chinas provincial
governments, who are responsible for
the review of biomass power plants,
have given the green light to almost
every project submission leading
to a high density of biomass power
plants in straw-rich regions and erce
competition for resources.
China is also promoting other
approaches to straw utilisation such as
recycling and gasication in addition
to biomass power generation, making
it difcult for local governments to
maintain a consistent and unied straw
utilisation policy.
Global development trend
Since the 1990s, many developed and
developing countries, with the US,
EU countries and Brazil leading the
way, have developed and implemented
bio-fuel programmes supported by a
mix of direct subsidies and tax credits,
to promote the agricultural economy,
improve air quality and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
Biofuel production
Given the growing population in China,
the potential for developing biofuel
based on edible agricultural products
is limited. As a result, China started
research on biofuel production using
sweet sorghum and the deciduous
Jatropha curcas as raw materials as
early as the 1990s, experimenting with
and developing larger scale projects
using such crops to produce ethanol
fuel and biodiesel oil.
Accelerating industrial transfor-
mation is essential for the mass pro-
duction of biomass fuels in China. The
country plans to focus on a dened set
of strategic tasks:
Shift from edible agricultural
products to non-food crops to
increase the availability of raw
materials and avoid competing with
the consumers of the countrys food
supply
Optimise product mix and improve
economic benets by developing
related technologies and expanding
the industry chain
Adjust the industrys structure for
higher efciency by shifting the
focus to growing plants specically
for energy use and to the production
of raw materials, while encouraging
collaboration among industry players
Ensure sustainable development by
integrating agricultural, industrial
and environmental systems
Put in place comprehensive
regulatory and incentive policies,
and establish a exible and effective
market mechanism in order to
promote the healthy development of
the sector. Nanjing Shanglong
Communications
information sioHnss
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Easy approvals of biomass projects have led to an
overcrowding of biomass power plants in straw-
rich regions
Reaching worldwide via
cleantech alliances
Singapore Business Federation signs three agreements with international players
Cleantech clusters to meet in 2012 at rst International Cleantech Network conference
information sUs1niNnsLc sUsiNcss
By Bhavani Prakash
Singapores apex business chamber
Singapore Business Federation (SBF)
has inked three agreements with three
international business players to pave
the way for Singapore businesses to
access clean technology, nancing
expertise, markets and global networks
for green growth in both Europe and
the Asia Pacic.
The separate agreements with
Copenhagen Capacity, Sumitomo
Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
and World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
were signed at the Asia Pacic
Sustainability Forum on October
17th. The forum was part of Global
Entrepolis @ Singapore (GES) Business
Leaders Summit 2011.
Singapores Minister to the Prime
Ministers Ofce, S Iswaran, who
witnessed the signing of the three
agreements, said sustainability is both
a megatrend and an emerging market
driver for value creation and prot.
Iswaran, who is also second minister
for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry,
lauded SBFs efforts to forge strategic
alliances with knowledge and tech-
nology partners to make Singapore
businesses more aware about local and
global green issues and their challeng-
es, as well as growth opportunities.
A memorandum of understanding
(MoU) was signed between SBF and
Copenhagen Capacity, the Danish capi-
tals ofcial investment agency whose
mission is to attract and maintain
foreign companies. This will assist Sin-
gaporean businesses and students in
setting up networking and study trips,
which would initially focus on integrat-
ing of renewable energy into smart
grids, water efciency and transport.
Mariana Lubanski, the business
development director of Copenhagen
Capacity shared the citys vision to be-
come carbon neutral by 2025. Copen-
hagen, which is recognised globally as
Europes most energy-efcient city, has
made signicant strides in decoupling
its GDP from gross energy consump-
tion and carbon emissions over the last
40 years.
Copenhagen Capacity works
closely with the mayors ofce, and
the Singapore Sustainability Alliance
(SSA) was formed as a broad network
of government agencies, business
communities and research institutions
that is plugged into the International
Cleantech Network (ICN) and Global
Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA),
providing opportunities for venture
capital investing.
An MoU was also signed between
SBF and SMBC, one of Japans
leading banking groups, providing
opportunities for engagement between
Singaporean and Japanese companies.
As Ho Meng Kit, SBFs
chief executive ofcer, pointed
out: Through SMBCs nancial
network, we will be working to
promote the growth of this sector
by forging alliances, fast-tracking
commercialisation of sustainability
solutions, and facilitating knowledge
and technology sharing.
Japanese companies will in
turn gain through partnership with
Singapore companies who can assist
with knowledge of and access to local
markets.
The third agreement was the
Letter of Intent between SBF and
WBCSD to establish a CEO-led
Sustainable Development Platform
in Singapore. WBCSD is a global
coalition of 200 companies advocating
MoU between Copenhagen Capacity on behalf of Copenhagen Cleantech Cluster and Singapore Business
Federation on behalf of Singapore Sustainability Alliance
s
s
r
plays a guiding role in the develop-
ment of sustainable technologies as co-
founder of the International Cleantech
Network, of which Singapore Sustain-
ability Alliance is a member.
To put things in context, SBF
established the Sustainable Develop-
ment Business Group (SDBG) in 2009
to connect like-minded businesses to
share best business practices, project
nancing and access to grants and in-
centives, and to bid for global business
opportunities such as eco-city projects.
Following the success of SDBG,
The omens for Rio+20, the United
Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development scheduled for next June,
are not auspicious. Named after the
historic 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, the follow-up event has been
dubbed the largest environmental
conference in a generation. Instead of
spelling hope, however, the gathering
that ought to chart a new path towards
healing a ravaged Earth is already
dogged by controversy.
Although the organisers hope to
secure renewed political commitment
to sustainable development from
governments at the conference, that
spirit has proven to be frustratingly
elusive at global environmental
summits in recent years. In 2009, at
the UN conference on climate change
in Copenhagen, the world watched
in dismay as some 115 government
leaders pussyfooted around their
obligations to cut greenhouse gas
emissions that are urgently needed to
avoid catastrophic climate change.
At the end of 12 acrimonious
days of arguments, the non-binding
Copenhagen Accord, described
Road to Rio+20
littered with controversy
Government leaders lag behind NGOs and businesses on sustainability agenda
Summit must un-environmentalise sustainability to reach more than the converted
information cLiHn1c cnnNcc
euphemistically as a meaningful
agreement, was adopted. Reactions
to the accord were as varied as they
were colourful. US President Barack
Obama, reecting the tone of the
biggest polluters, said: We have come
a long way but we have much further
to go. At the other corner, Bolivian
president Evo Morales, expressing the
mood of the less-developed countries,
declared: The meeting has failed. Its
unfortunate for the planet. The fault is
with the lack of political will by a small
group of countries led by the US.
By the time the current issue of
Green Purchasing Asia is published, the
latest round of talks in Durban, South
Africa would have just been concluded.
Given the distrust between the
industrialised and developing countries
over their commitment to cut carbon
emissions, even the most steadfast
supporters of the climate talks see little
hope of anything concrete from the
current round. Worse, there are real
fears that the failure of the parties to
the UNs climate change treaty to make
meaningful progress may torpedo
condence in the negotiations and
cause these countries to abandon their
commitments to cut greenhouse gas
emissions under the Kyoto Protocol,
which expires in 2012.
RSVP laggards
One sign of the political undertow
that could weaken the summits
signicance is that, at the time of this
writing, no developed country head
has committed to attend Rio+20.
Already, the original dates for the event
have reportedly been shifted by two
weeks to avoid clashing with Queen
Elizabeth IIs diamond jubilee, which
marks the 60th year of her reign.
The Brazilian government, which is
hosting the summit, has rescheduled
the event apparently to avoid putting
some 54 Commonwealth leaders in a
dilemma over which event to attend.
Nevertheless, the shift has made no
difference to British prime minister
David Cameron, who appears to have
no plans to attend the summit despite
his commitment to lead the greenest
government ever.
Rio+20 secretary-general Sha
for sustainable development and
accounting for annual revenues of
US$7 trillion. It covers 35 countries
and a network of 60 national and
regional business councils and partner
organisations.
According to Constant van Aer-
schot, WBCSDs advisor to Singapore,
the Sustainable Development Platform
(SDP) would be part of WBCSDs
regional network. SDP is expected
to be launched mid next year. The
SDP, comprising leading local com-
panies and foreign subsidiaries, will
provide Singapore businesses with
access to international best practices,
benchmark studies and regional and
international project collaboration
opportunities. Regional chapters will
also allow member companies to opt
for solutions that are relevant to their
circumstances.
Cleantech clusters are expected to
converge in Singapore next year with
SBF hosting the inaugural ICN Confer-
ence and Expo at the GES Business
Leaders Summit in 2012, providing
another platform for Singapore busi-
nesses to access knowledge, technol-
ogy and nance avenues.
Asked about the challenges of
spreading best practices in Asia,
Victor Tay, chief operating ofcer of
SBF replied at a press conference that
the momentum towards sustainability
is fast building up. The new platforms
will help local companies plug into a
larger global network of best practices,
themes, know-how and research. The
varied sizes of the companies means
that there is a need for pragmatic
solutions, especially for price-sensitive
small- and medium-sized enterprises
to adapt effectively to this new
paradigm.
Secretary-general Sha Zukang: Failure is not an
option we must use Rio+20 to guide us towards a
sustainable world it is the future we want.
U
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c
s
n
Zukang is pinning the international
communitys hopes on the conference
to deliver a healthy crop of outcomes.
These include a sorely anticipated
llip for the global economy, social
protection and inclusion, job creation
especially for youth, and protection of
the natural resource base for the sake
of future generations.
Observers tend to think of this as
a tall order, given the many divisions
among UN member states about
how to deliver these goods equitably.
Acknowledging these challenges,
Sha told the Asia-Pacic preparatory
meeting for Rio+20 at end-October
in Seoul: Failure at Rio+20 is not an
option. Humanity is at a crossroads
and we must use Rio+20 to guide us
towards a sustainable world it is the
future we want.
Going post-environmentalism
A key challenge is to get the main
actors in government, business and
society to switch from their business
as usual mode towards the path of
sustainability. As Andr Correa do
Lago, the chief negotiator for Brazil
recently said, the Rio+20 summit must
un-environmentalise the worlds
approach to sustainability so that it
can reach out beyond the converted,
namely the environmental ministries of
UN member states and environmental
groups.
Evidence that political leaders
are not walking the green talk may
undermine the publics acceptance
of the summits agenda. A survey by
GlobeScan and SustainAbility of more
than 500 sustainability experts from
over 60 countries on the sustainability
performance of key actors that will
play crucial roles in the Rio+20 summit
showed that government leaders
have fallen well behind leaders of
NGOs, corporations and multilateral
organisations in advancing the
sustainability agenda. It remains to be
seen whether the events leading up to
Rio+20 can ramp up the involvement of
the laggards.
Two themes
The rst of two major themes of
Rio+20 will be to enable the transi-
tion of the global economy to a green
economy in the context of sustainable
development and poverty eradication.
Two UN reports The Economics of
Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)
and a Green Economy Report (GER)
lay out the game plan. They argue
that services provided by nature
such as water purication, carbon
sequestration and nitrogen cycling,
should be measured and assigned eco-
nomic value. Such services can then
be paid for, offset, or securitised in the
form of credits that can be traded to
raise conservation money. Meanwhile,
new eco-efcient technologies can
be developed and deployed, increasing
the value of these ecosystem services
and generating revenue.
The second major theme is
to strengthen the international
institutional framework for sustainable
development. This could mean
restructuring all environment-
related UN agencies, beginning with
the United Nations Environmental
Programme (UNEP) and the UN
Development Programme to some
500 multilateral environmental
treaties and agreements currently in
place. These cover toxic chemicals,
ocean conservation, biodiversity,
desertication, climate change, ozone
depletion, forest protection, and more.
Beyond central government
A stakeholder forum to generate
consensus for the sustainable
development agenda is on the cards
too. Drawing on the work of the
Agenda 21 roadmap that emerged
from the rst Earth Summit, the
upcoming event will bring together
representatives from nine sectors:
indigenous peoples, farmers, workers
Expert views on the performance of leaders in advancing the
sustainability agenda
Percentage of respondents who gave Excellent (4+5) rating
Sources: GlobeScan, SustainAbility, The Guardian
Rio+20 will take on the daunting challenge of bringing together diverse representatives from nine sectors
including indigenous peoples, farmers, trade unions, local authorities, industry, the scientic community
and NGOs in search of consensus on a sustainable development agenda
2011
2010
2009
NGO leaders
Corporate
leaders
Leaders of
multilateral
organisations
Nationally elected
government leaders
49
50
53
24
20
21
23
22
24
6
8
13
c
o
r
s
i
s
The Chinese market for the
development and use of geothermal
energy will reach 100 billion yuan
(about US$15 billion) in the next ve
years, says Yuan Funing, an executive
from Yatir Group, a Shandong
province-based rm involved in the
geothermal heat pump sector. The
countrys geothermal heat pump
market delivers annual sales exceeding
1 billion yuan, and is growing at
more than 20% per year. Installation
costs of these systems have dropped
signicantly, from 400 to 450 yuan/m
2

to 220 to 320 yuan/m
2
.
The Shandong province has ex-
perienced higher growth in the use of
geothermal systems compared to other
regions. As at end-2010, the province
was using geothermal to both heat and
cool 8 million sq m of space, including
schools, hospitals, ofces, and resi-
dences, says Xu Chongqing, vice presi-
dent at the Energy Research Institute
of Shandong Academy of Sciences.
Both regional governments and
leading energy producers are increas-
ingly seeing the value of geothermal.
An executive from CNPC, Chinas larg-
est oil and gas producer and supplier,
revealed that the company plans to in-
vest 10 billion yuan in the development
Geothermal bubbling up
Chinas energy chain
Sector, growing at more than 20% a year, expected to hit 100 bil yuan in ve years
High prots and low barriers to entry threaten to disrupt smooth growth
of six types of new energy, including
geothermal, by 2020.
Despite the bright prospects, the
sector is expected to face difculties
due to unhealthy market competition
resulting from high prots and low
barriers to entry at its early develop-
ment stage, notes Chang Jiuchun, vice
director at Shandong Research and
Promotion Centre of Shallow Geother-
mal Energy. Chang also says the steady
development of geothermal heat pump
systems as an emerging product needs
government support at the national lev-
el in the form of well-dened support
policies and standardisation across the
sector, and rectication of the current
market situation.
Wang Jiyang, senior researcher at
the Institute of Geology and Geophys-
ics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, says
that unlike wind and solar, geothermal
is not at the mercy of unpredictable
weather conditions. The greatest
advantages of geothermal lie in its
high stability, continuity and utilisation
rate. In addition, geothermal, which is
clean, low-carbon and renewable, is
one of the most practical and competi-
tive among the new energies.
Geothermal energy has great
potential for alleviating the ever
increasing resource issues associated
with power generation and is on track
towards accounting for 8.3% of total
power supply worldwide by 2050, said
Wang.
Its development and utilisation is,
however, well behind other new energy
sectors. Wang points out some major
issues associated with Chinas geother-
mal energy development:
Little exploration and evaluation
have been done, thereby slowing
down the countrys development and
adoption of the energy
China is leading worldwide in terms
of low- and middle-temperature
utilisation technologies, but lagging
behind when it comes to high-tem-
perature utilisation
China has yet to master several key
utilisation technologies and lacks
expertise in utilisation.
It therefore behooves the country
to build a national-level geothermal
energy technology research and devel-
opment (R&D) platform to encourage
R&D efforts and carry out demon-
stration projects, and to put in place
preferential policies to drive develop-
ment. Nanjing Shanglong Commu-
nications
information cco1ncrHnL
and trade unions, local authorities,
business and industry, the science
and technology community, women,
children and youth and non-
governmental organisations. Clearly, it
will be an achievement in itself to bring
such a diversity of viewpoints together,
let alone nd common ground among
them.
From the civil society corner,
the view of the state of environmental
management is pointedly critical.
Canada-based development activist
Pat Mooney, a Right Livelihood Award
winner, deals a reality check in a recent
blog posting:
The Rio Earth Summit of 1992
adopted Agenda 21, including a
series of treaties and agreements
intended to conserve and restore
biodiversity, halt desertication, stop
deforestation and safeguard us from
climate change. When leaders meet in
Rio in 2012 they will be told that the
deserts have expanded, biodiversity
is collapsing, only a scientically
baseless redenition of forest by
some governments allows them to
pretend that deforestation is slowing
and the climate change biz is booming
on offsets and credits.
Indeed, critics who think that the
2012 summit will be just one more
carnival in a series of global gatherings
are now calling the conference
Rio-20 instead.
Unlike wind and
solar, geothermal is
not at the mercy of
unpredictable weather
conditions. Its greatest
advantages are high
stability, continuity
and utilisation rates.
US$300 house challenge
draws global response
Idea received massive number of responses, inspired others to help the poor
Big players like Mahindra, Tata, Worldhaus are now pilot-testing low-cost housing
information
Holding on to the belief that build-
ing low-cost housing for the worlds
poorest can improve their livelihood,
and be economically viable and even
protable for the builder, Professor Vi-
jay Govindarajan and veteran marketer
Christian Sarkar came up with the idea
of a US$300 house. What began as a
what-if blog post in August 2010 soon
triggered discussions, debates and
ideas from various individuals, busi-
nesses, institutions, governments and
even, schoolchildren.
The duo posed a challenge to
professionals, companies, non-govern-
mental organisations and governments
to design an affordable, functional and
sustainable house for the poor that
include clean water and solar electric-
ity. And it should not cost more than
US$300. This was not going to be easy.
Why US$300?
The US$300 house project was
inspired by a video by US-based
non-prot Partners in Health about
a family of 11 in Haiti, all living in a
tiny one-room hut. Govindarajan and
Sarkar then co-authored their rst blog
post on the US$300-house idea in the
Harvard Business Review website. In
an article in The Economist, Govinda-
rajan admitted that while the US$300
gure was partly an attention-grabbing
device, there was logic behind it.
The US$300 goal meant the
emphasis was on producing a lean
house design within a specic budget.
Following the rule of thumb that any-
thing that costs US$100 in the US can
be re-engineered for US$10 in India,
they then decided that if a shed costs
US$3,000 in the US, it can be built for
US$300 in India. Furthermore, in a
book by Muhammad Yunus (founder
of the Grameen Bank), they found
that US$370 was the average value of
houses of people who escaped poverty,
By Jennifer Neoh Tan
and rounding that number downwards
resulted in US$300 yet again.
The challenge
Spurred by the buzz, Govindarajan
and Sarkars US$300 house project
took a life of its own and become a
full-edged movement with a website
(www.300house.com), with a growing
list of advisors, vendors and corporate
sponsors. In April 2011, they launched
a global online design competition
(sponsored by Ingersoll Rand and
hosted by jovoto.com) inviting people
to submit prototype designs of the
house. Two months later, six winners
were picked from 300 submissions by
individuals, teams and even corpora-
tions like Indias automotive and indus-
trial powerhouse Mahindra group.
Winners were selected based on
a combination of votes from the online
community and a panel of judges
comprising designers, architects,
and thought leaders. They shared
US$25,000 in total prize money, which
included US$10,000 in cash awards to
the top 16 placements as voted by the
community itself, and US$15,000 in
prototyping scholarships.
The winning entry came from
Patti Stouter of Simple Earth Structures
(www.simpleearthstructures.com) in
which the total cost of the basic house
was $293.80 with another $54.10 for
additional accessories such as a down-
spout pipe to rainwater barrels, rebar
window grilles, mosquito nets and a
solar electric system.
The winners and Mahindra (win-
ner of the corporate entries category)
will now participate in prototyping
workshops one to be hosted by
Mahindra in India and the other by
Dartmouth College next summer.
Problems vs solutions
Some of the concerns that consistently
arise in the quest to provide housing
for the poor are land availability and
land ownership; access to amenities
such as running water, electricity, sani-
tation, basic healthcare, education and
employment; availability of microloans
Photovoltaic panel
for night lighting
Thatch or
reused
metal roof
Recycled glass
bottles for
interior light
Light upper wall
material: mesh
reinforced straw
wattle, bamboo
and woven grass,
or conventional
compressed earth
blocks (CEB)
Mosquito
netting over
beds for health
Solid base walls
of inexpensive
reinforced earthbag
with earthen or
lime paster
Benches and base walls
of water-resistant gravel
bags with lime plaster
Rebar security
grid at window
Rainwater
collection
system
Biosand or
solar UV water
ltration
Solar
cooker
Patti Stouter of Simple Earth Structures winning $300 house design
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and subsidies to buy building materi-
als for the house, and availability of
resources in the surrounding areas. In
addition, different regions have differ-
ent housing needs.
Govindarajan and Sarkar took it
upon themselves to turn these pro-
blems around. They deployed teams to
Haiti and India to get a better under-
standing of slums on the ground. They
also conducted an attitudinal and infor-
mation gathering survey in 15 villages
in three states in India, with the help of
Three Headed Lion (THL), to further
understand the housing needs of rural
India. The surveys show that people
are willing to borrow money to buy a
US$300 house provided it has tap wa-
ter, electricity, and privacy, and if other
concerns raised are also addressed.
Govindarajan and Sarkar acknow-
ledge that slums present complex
challenges that cannot be xed by
building shacks alone. They expanded
the idea further to treat the house as
an ecosystem that provides shared in-
frastructure. For a start, they roped in
Land tenure: Governments must
provide secure land tenure for new
housing. Slum-dwellers will not want to
buy the house if they cannot own the
land it sits on
Microloans and subsidies: US$300 is a
big sum for squatters who survive on a
few dollars a day
Business communities: They must want
to invest in low-cost houses as they
have nancial and technological means
Slum-dwellers: The consumers must
change their mindset and not sell o
the house for quick prots.
Turning slums around
takes more than goodwill
the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF).
SELF has demonstrated that a
simple solution can tackle multiple
issues. For instance, affordable solar
panels for the worlds poorest regions
provide the people with free solar
energy to power pumps that provide
water for household and irrigation. The
panels also supply electricity to schools
and clinics, indirectly improving health
and education, which in turn increases
productivity and ability to do work,
contributing to family income.
Most importing, Govindarajan
and Sarkars project has inspired
others into action to serve the poor. For
example, the Tata Group has launched
an ultra low-cost, at pack house for
US$700, which will be pilot tested in
30 locations across India. Mahindra
is now working on a pilot of their
design submission. Bill Gross, founder
and CEO of Idealab, said his team at
Worldhaus is also working on a modu-
lar US$1,500 house for the poor that
includes amenities like clean-burning
stoves, toilets, and solar power.
Despite these positive responses,
however, the journey is far from over.
The idea of reinventing the slums is
one lled with political, cultural and
social challenges that can only be
overcome through co-operation among
people who are often at loggerheads:
companies and NGOs, and slum-
dwellers and governments.
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ats underwent the switch last month
as part of a community environment
pilot project by the Central Singapore
Community Development Council,
Maybank Singapore and the NEA.
Two bulbs will be xed in each
household, starting with those living
in Tanjong Pagar GRC. The district-
wide programme, called SWITCH
(for Simple Ways I Take to Change
My Habits), was launched at the
recent Central Singapore Clean
and Green carnival. (Source: www.
channelnewsasia.com)
LDK producing polysilicon
in Inner Mongolia
LDK Solar
and the
Chinese
city government of Hohhot, the capital
of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region, held a groundbreaking
ceremony for a30,000 tonnes per
annum polysilicon manufacturing
facility at its Jinsan Development Zone.
The facility is part of a plan to establish
a renewable energy manufacturing
hub in the autonomous region. The
facility will be built by LDK Silicon
& Chemical Technology Co Ltd, a
subsidiary of LDK Solar. LDK Silicon
today has annual combined production
capacity of 17,000 tonnes from its
Mahong and Xiacun polysilicon plants
Malaysias FiT gamma test:
90% for solar PV
The three-day gamma testing
by Malaysias newly formed
Sustainable Energy Development
Authority (SEDA) Malaysia for its
feed-in tariff (FiT) attracted 192
users, with 147 applications. While
these applications do not count as
real ones, they indicate the interest
shown by the industry. SEDA
Malaysia chairman Fong Chan Onn
says 90% of the applications were
for solar photovoltaic (PV) and the
remaining were spread among
biomass, biogas and small hydro.
The e-FiT online system goes live
on December 1st.
The Malaysian FiT is quota-
constrained to ensure the 1% levy
to be collected from electricity
consumers from Dec 1st is enough
to pay renewable energy (RE)
generators. Only 190 MW of
renewable energy will be available
for application in 2012, another 190
MW in 2013, and 250 MW in 2014.
The quotas for future years have yet
to be conrmed although the RE
target is 4,000 MW by 2030. Solar
PV FiT application is now capped at
5 MWp to allow more players.
information Ncws sricrs
HP, Apple, Intel and Motorola
top for clean supply chains
HP, Apple,
Intel and
Motorola
have been
top ranked
in a report that studied how 26 IT
companies managed their supply
chains. The companies submitted
information of their supply chains to
Det Norsk Veritas (DNV) for the Clear
Links Report 2011. (Source: www.
greenbiz.com
Asian rms pave way for
supplier accountability
Companies like Toyota, Hyundai Mo-
tor Company (HMC) and Samsung are
promoting responsible supply chain
development through supportive mu-
tual growth initiatives with suppliers.
HMCs win-win programme increases
suppliers stability through nancial
programmes such as its cash payment
policy and credit loans for operation
funds. It has also set up the Mutually-
Benecial Cooperation Fund and the
Bridge Loan for Green Production
Facilities, as well as a joint-purchasing
programme to assist suppliers with
cost-cutting. Samsungs Partner Col-
laboration Centre, established directly
under its CEO, introduced seven pro-
grammes for mutual growth, including
a Win-Win fund for partner companies,
timely reection of raw material price
changes in parts purchasing prices,
and expanding support to indirect sup-
pliers. (Source: Guardian Professional)
Facebook, Google build cool
data centres in Scandinavia
Facebook is building its data centre
in chilly Lulea, northern Sweden,
where clean energy prices are low
(local hydropower is still the cheapest
clean power available) and the cold
climate allows Facebook to use the
environment to cool the data centre,
eliminating the need for power-hungry
chillers. Cooling accounts for about
half of a traditional data centres power
needs. Google, too, built a mega green
data centre in Finland this year, using
outside air and cold seawater to cool
the facility. Google bought the former
paper mill in 2009 and uses the build-
ings quarter-mile-long seawater tun-
nels to push water up into the building
to cool the servers. Google advocates
using outside air for cooling data
centres whenever possible. (Source:
Gigaom.com)
Energy-saving bulbs for
low-income homes
In the next three
years, 4,000
low-income
households in
Central Singapore will have their light
bulbs changed to energy-efcient
ones at their rental ats. The aim
is to help these households save a
collective S$160,000 (US$122,000)
in utilities bills. If successful, the
National Environment Agency (NEA)
says the project will be rolled out
nationwide. The aim is to promote
energy-saving habits and help people
cut down electricity use. A total of 224
just a couple of key differentiators
over the competition and has led to
further validation of the companys
bankability for large scale projects,
the press release said. Commissioning
of the solar park took place on October
28th. Components from other Chint
subsidiaries, including inverters and
BOS system components, will also
be used in the project, adding to
system reliability and lower system
implementation costs. (Source:
Astronergy)
APP defends itself as seven
companies decides to stop
purchase
Asia Pulp & Paper Co (APP), accused
by Greenpeace of destroying Indone-
sias rainforests, questioned why it was
singled out by the latter when it merely
complied with Indonesian laws. Tim-
ber from natural forests can be sustain-
able. The question is: Why are we as
an Indonesian company being singled
at Xinyu, Jiangxi Province of China.
With ongoing upgrades at both plants,
as well as the Line B project in the
Xiacun plant, the company expects
to reach annual production capacity
of 25,000 tonnes by mid-2012. With
the new facility, LDK Silicon expects
to have a total polysilicon annual
production capacity of 55,000 tonnes
by end-2013, which would make it one
of the largest and most competitive
polysilicon manufacturers in the global
market. (Source: LDK Solar)
First Solar postpones
Vietnam project
Thin-lm
photovoltaic
giant First Solar
is postponing
its factory in
Vietnam until
global supply and demand dynamics
support the additional capacity. The
Arizona company, which removed its
chief executive and lowered its sales
and earnings expectations for 2011,
remains on track to add 280 MW of
production in its home state to supply
some 2.7 GW of utility-scale US
solar projects. Its second Frankfurt,
Germany manufacturing plant was
inaugurated in November, with an
annual capacity of 250 MW, doubling
its German production capacity. First
Solar is also touting module efciency
increase from its best-performing
lines during the quarter to 12.4%,
although across lines, conversion
efciency was 11.8%, up from 11.7%
in the second quarter. (Source: First
Solar, Rechargenews.com)
Thailand solar park to use
Astronergy thin lm
Astronergy, a subsidiary of the Chint
Group, won its bid to provide thin-lm
amorphous microcrystalline silicon
technology (a-Si/uc-Si) PV panels for a
1.65 MWp solar park in Thailand. The
company says it has seen an increase
in demand for its thin-lm panels
due to its low-voltage, high-efciency
(approaching 10%) and competitive
pricing. The ability to offer MunichRe
power performance insurance and
being backed by Black & Veatch
through its third Party IE Report are
out? asks APP managing director Aida
Greenbury.
Greenpeace said early November
that seven companies, including
toymaker Hasbro Inc, New Zealands
largest group of department stores
The Warehouse Group Ltd and luxury
pen maker Montblanc International
GmbH had decided to stop buying
from APP. APP, one of the worlds
largest pulp and paper companies, is
owned by Indonesian conglomerate
Sinar Mas Group, which also controls
palm oil plantations. The company
produces 7 million tonnes of pulp,
paper and packaging a year, and
exports to 65 countries. It insists that
95% of its packaging is recycled and
the remaining 5% comes from certied
forests. (Source: Deutsche Presse
Agentur)
Better Place to start EV
charging and battery swap
Better Place, the Silicon Valley elec-
tric vehicle (EV) infrastructure startup,
has raised a US$200 million round of
nancing from investors that include
General Electric, UBS, Morgan Stan-
ley, HSBC and VantagePoint Capi-
tal Partners. The company has now
banked more than US$750 million,
giving it a valuation of US$2.25 billion.
Next year, Better Place begins limited
operations in Denmark and Israel.
Proton Exora REEV bags
plug-in hybrid, EE awards
The Proton Exora Range Extender
Electric Vehicle (REEV) bagged
the Best Overall Extender Range/
Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle and the
Most Energy Efcient Multi-
Purpose Car-Prototype awards at
the second Royal Automobile Club
(RAC) 2011 Future Car Challenge
Brighton to London last
month. The motoring
contest, organised by the
United Kingdom RAC,
is the worlds largest
live demonstration of
electric, hybrid and
low-emission internal
combustion engine
passenger cars. Seventy
cars took part in 17 categories this
year. Proton participated in the
Electric Vehicle category for the
Saga Electric, REEV for the Exora
REEV and Persona Elegance REEV
this year. Despite minor technical
glitches, Exora REEV made it
to the nish line. Last year, the
Proton Exora REEV won in the
Best E-REEV Vehicle category.
(Source: Bernama)
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Service in
Canberra,
Australia
will start
in the
second
quarter. It
has also
struck deals to build charging networks
in the San Francisco Bay Area, Toronto
and Hawaii.
Better Place owns the electric car
batteries, and drivers pay a monthly
fee to use charging spots. Drivers can
also trade depleted battery packs for
fresh ones at battery swapping sta-
tions. (Source: Forbes)
ET Solar given
US$1.3 bil credit war chest
Chinese PV group ET Solar says it has
secured a credit line of at least 8 billion
yuan (US$1.3 billion) to support its
European growth ambitions. ET Solar
signed a deal for the ve-year credit
facility with China CITIC Bank. The
Nanjing-based vertically-integrated
PV group says the loan will be used
for capital expenditure and general
corporate purposes.
Dennis She
(left), chief execu-
tive, says: ET So-
lar has established
a strong tie with
CITIC, a leading
nancial power-
house in China and one of our house
banks. He says the strategic agreement
will allow it to capture overall market
growth and build momentum in Euro-
pean system business development.
Chinese banks are supplying US$10 bil-
lion of credit facilities to a local consor-
tium to build and invest in solar plants
in Europe. (Source: Recharge)
Japanese beer giants share
logistics, cut CO_ emissions
Rival Japanese brewers Asahi Brewer-
ies Ltd and Kirin Brewery Co an-
nounced mid-year their decision to
jointly distribute their beer to cut costs
and reduce the carbon dioxide (CO
2
)
emissions of their distribution arms.
This initiative began in August involv-
ing small-lot delivery in parts of Tokyo
and the collection of used containers in
surrounding prefectures.
Despite being competitors, the
breweries recognise that this coopera-
tion will reduce annual CO
2
emissions
by about 196 tonnes. It will also reduce
costs by several hundred million yen,
or several million dollars, Asahi Brew-
eries executive vice president Kazuo
Motoyama said. Asahi and Kirin may
explore further collaboration, includ-
ing joint procurement of cans. (Source:
Japan for Sustainability, Brikners
Beverage World)
More e cient wind lens
being tested
From autumn
2011 to
end-2012,
Japans Fu-
kuoka City
and Kyushu
University
are jointly
conducting offshore testing of a new
wind lens turbine developed by the
university. The project is sponsored by
Japans Ministry of the Environment.
The new turbine has windmill blades
shrouded with a brimmed diffuser,
which increases the winds velocity
blowing toward the blades, allowing
for double or triple the power output
compared to conventional wind
turbines.
The city and the university have
been joint-testing wind lens turbines
since 2009. One trial of such a 3 kW
turbine with rotors measuring 2.5 m
in diameter and a wind speed of 10 m
per second showed it can generate
2.5 times more electricity than con-
ventional ones and is quieter and more
compact. A hexagon-shaped oat 18 m
in diameter will be set about 600 m off
the coast of Marine World Umino-
Nakamichi. Two 3 kW wind lens tur-
bines will be installed on the oat.
(Source: Japan for Sustainability)
South Korea to invest
10.2 trillion won in wind
The South Korean government
announced it will invest 10.2 trillion
won (US$9 billion) in building a
2.5 GW offshore wind farm, the largest
in the world.
Located off its southwestern
coast, the farm will be built in three
phases by South Korean companies
led by Korea Electric Power. The rst
is a 100 MW demonstration phase to
be completed by 2014. Wind turbines
with capacities ranging from 3 MW
to 7 MW will be erected off the coast
of Jeollabukdo and Jeollanamdo prov-
inces in three stages at a cost of 400
billion won. A second 400 MW phase is
scheduled for completion in 2016 at a
cost of 1.6 trillion won, according to a
Bloomberg Businessweek report.
The consortium of companies
building the offshore wind farm in-
clude Doosan Heavy Industries and
Construction Co, Daewoo Ship-
building & Marine Engineering Co
and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.
(Source: Clean Technica)
Solar LED lights named

Airport Technology for 2011
An
aviation
rst, the
Solar LED
Runway
Guard Light, the result of a joint
development project between US-
based Carmanah Technologies Corp
and ADB Aireld Solutions, has
been named Airport Technology of
the Year by Future Airport magazine.
Traditional incandescent lamp systems
for runways typically light for 1,000
hours. The LED Solar Runway Guard
Light System has an average LED life
of 56,000 hours under high-intensity
conditions and nearly double this
under actual operating conditions.
The new system will therefore
reduce an airports carbon footprint
signicantly not only by saving on
the cost of powering the lighting, but
also on the cost of replacing lights. It
is also perfect for airelds in remote
locations as the system needs no
connection to the power grid, making
installation more straightforward than
conventional aireld lighting systems.
(Source: Clean Technica & Future
Airport)
China to phase out
incandescent light bulbs
China announced early November that
it will phase out incandescent light
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Knowledge & networking
JAN
2012
FEB
MAR
APR
CSR Asia Forum on Asian Sustainability 2012
18th January 2012
Akihabara UDX Conference, Tokyo
www.csr-asia.com/course_detail.php?id=121
Green Buildings Asia 2012
21st-24th February 2012
Sheraton Towers Hotel, Singapore
www.greenbuildingsapac.com/
8th Annual Australasian Cleantech Forum 2012
27th-29th February 2012
Park Hyatt, Melbourne, Australia
www.terrapinn.com/2012/clean-tech-forum/
Procurement & Vendor Management Excellence
1st-2nd March 2012
Singapore
http://bit.ly/snR0v6
4th China Solar Energy Technology and Investment Congress
8th-9th March 2012
Changzhou, China
www.noppen.com.cn/upcoming/L1205/index.asp
World Biofuels Markets Congress & Exhibition
13th-15th March 2012
Rotterdam, Netherlands
www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com
EduBuild Asia 2012
27th-30th March 2011
Singapore
www.edubuildasia.com

6th China Qingdao International Building
Energy Saving & Renewable Energy Utilisation Fair
6th-8th April 2012
Qingdao International Convention Centre, Qingdao, China
www.qdcese.com/index1.asp

Smart Electricity World Asia 2012
16th-19th April 2012
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
www.terrapinn.com/2012/smart-electricity-world-asia-conference
Transmission & Distribution World Asia 2012
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
http://www.terrapinn.com/2012/transmission-and-distribution

Asia Green Shipping Summit 2012
Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
www.greenshippingasia.com

Cloud Computing World Asia 2012
25th April 2012
Suntec Exhibition & Convention Centre, Singapore
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bulbs within ve years a move that
could boost shares of LED product
makers signicantly. The government
will ban import and sales of 100 W
and higher incandescent bulbs from
October 1st 2012, of 60 W and higher
bulbs from October 2014, and of 15 W
and higher bulbs from October 2016,
although the last may be subject to an
evaluation in September 2016, says
the National Development and Reform
Commission.
State-run Xinhua News Agency
quoted Xie Ji, deputy director of the
commissions environmental protec-
tion department, as saying China is
the worlds largest producer of both
energy-saving and incandescent bulbs.
Last year, China produced 3.85 billion
incandescent light bulbs and 1.07 bil-
lion were sold domestically. Lighting
accounts for about 12% of Chinas
electricity use, the agency says. When
fully implemented, the phase-out is ex-
pected to save China 48 billion kWh of
electricity per year and cut CO
2
emis-
sions by 48 million tonnes annually.
(Source: Associated Press, Reuters)
ABB buys automation
specialist Powercorp
ABB is buying
Australian power-
automation spe-
cialist Powercorp, whose core technol-
ogy enables isolated grids to have high
levels of renewables without suffering
blackouts. The deal is expected to be
nalised by end-2011.
Renewables are problematic in
isolated areas because their variability
causes grid instability, and can lead to
a generator response known as hunt-
ing, resulting in high consumption of
backup fossil fuels, engine damage,
and blackouts. Powercorps propri-
etary technology which includes a
ywheel-based storage system al-
leviates this problem. The company
brings expertise for the integration
of renewable-energy generation into
conventional micro and remote-island
grids, says Peter Leupp, head of
ABBs Power Systems division. Both
Powercorp and ABB are targetting the
mining industry, where large electri-
cal equipment like crushers can cause
similar power uctuations to renew-
ables. (Source: Recharge)
noHcwork
Strategy for
Sustainability
Adam Werbach
Harvard Business Press
This book is different. It
arose out of two failures.
The rst was the authors
self-confessed failure to
convince the mayor of New
Orleans to back his proposal
for doing something about
climate change, and particu-
larly the abuse of the wet-
lands around the city. Then
came Katrina! The second
failure was that of the big
three US car manufacturing
companies when they had
to go cap-in-hand to seek a
government bailout.
The author learned
from both of these failures
and this book reects those
lessons.
Each of the seven
chapters contains a sidebox,
in some cases more than a
couple of pages long, where
the author explores a facet
of the main theme of the
chapter. For example, in
chapter 1, he outlines clearly
how sustainability differs
from built to last.
Like many marketing
gurus, the author pack-
ages analytical approaches
into easy-recall acronyms.
For instance, strategising
for sustainability requires
constant analysis of how
society, technology and re-
sources are evolving so that
a company can assess how
it will be affected. Werbach
dubs his framework for this
process STaR mapping
and illustrates its applica-
tion on actual case studies,
including an extensive one
on The Clorox Company.
This is a comparatively
short book a whisker un-
der 200 pages but it con-
tains much to exercise the
minds of CEOs, for whom
it should be compulsory
reading.
The author has an
interesting biography. He
has twice been elected to
the International Board of
Greenpeace, and at only 23,
he was the youngest ever
president of the Sierra Club,
the largest environmental
organisation in the US. He is
presently chief sustainability
ofcer of Saatchi & Saatchi
S, the sustainabili ty arm of
the global brand communi-
cations company.
World Energy Outlook
2011
International Energy Agency
China, the worlds largest
energy consumer, will use
nearly 70% more energy
than the United States in
2035 despite per-capita
energy consumption that
will still be less than half
of US levels.
Energy consumption
growth rates will be even
higher in India, Indone-
sia, Brazil and the Middle
East.
Overall demand for all fu-
els will rise but the share
of fossil fuels will fall from
81% in 2010 to 75% in
2035; only natural gas will
increase its share of the
mix from now to 2035.
The share of non-hydro
renewables in power gen-
eration will rise from 3%
in 2009 to 15% in 2035 as
annual subsidies approach
US$180 billion with nearly
half the growth driven by
China and the European
Union.
WEO 2011 also reports
on the current trajectory
towards IEAs 450 Sce-
nario a timetable to limit
greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere to 450 ppm of
carbon dioxide (CO
2
)
equivalent so that long-term
global temperature rise
is capped at 2C. At pres-
ent, four-fths of the total
energy-related CO
2
emis-
sions permissible by 2035
are already locked-in by
existing capital stock such
as power plants, buildings,
factories, etc, with limited
carbon reduction facili-
ties. Prospects for reaching
450 Scenario targets are
therefore grim without rm
intervention.
Special discounts on
WEO 2011 are available for
universities and non-prots
(30%), clients in low- and
lower middle-income coun-
tries (50%) and for PDF
versions (20%). Details at
www.worldenergyoutlook.
org
2
0
1
1
WORLD
ENERGY
OUTLOOK
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This book is an excellent
text for Sustainability 101.
Clear and concise, with well-
dened terms, it leaves the
reader with no doubt about
what sustainability is and
more importantly is not.
In his rather long In-
troduction, Adam Werbach
makes the initial point that
sustainability is a term that
needs careful denition and
points out that continued -
nancial success is a contrib-
utory factor to sustainability,
but not the whole story. Nor
is green. Nor is corporate
social responsibility (CSR).
His denition is this: A
sustainable business means
thriving in perpetuity.
Werbach proposes that
there are four co-equal com-
ponents to sustainability:
Social acting as though
other people matter
Economic operating
protably
Environmental protect-
ing and restoring the eco-
system
Cultural protecting and
valuing cultural diversity
The cultural element is
an addition to the standard
triple bottom line of prot,
people and planet.
Most books are written
following successful inter-
ventions by the author(s) or
the consultancy represented.
The latest World Energy
Outlook (WEO) is a packed
volume (over 500 pages) of
data, information on policy
developments and analysis
concerning global energy
markets for the next 25
years. The International
Energy Agencys (IEA) ag-
ship publication contains
updated energy demand and
supply projections for vari-
ous future scenarios, broken
down by country, fuel and
sector, and covers both re-
newable and non-renewable
sources.
Special areas of focus
include Russias energy
prospects and the implica-
tions for global markets; the
role of coal; implications if
oil and gas investment in
the Middle East and North
Africa are delayed; forecasts
of how rapid slowdown in
nuclear power use would
affect the global energy
landscape; and issues of
making energy accessible to
the poor.
Projection highlights
include the following:

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PURCHASING

) will rise to 45.5 million tonnes

per capita is about 7.1

(2005) is expected also to rise to

/year by 2025, says

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