By now everybody should have watched “Inconvenient Truth” and has general idea about global warming. So I would not re-define what is global warming but instead I would like to focus on what Singapore has done so far to fight against the climate change.
In an on-going effort to become the manufacturing and business centre that closely approaches environmental neutrality, Singapore takes part in active role against global warming. Here, I use the word ‘active’ because, in my opinion, if you compare the amount of damage Singapore has caused to environment and the initiative it takes to address the environmental problems, it can be considered a responsible country indeed in global scale.
It is true that Singapore’s energy portfolio still includes fossil fuel. However, we should also bear in mind that not every renewable energy sources can be the answer to the country’s quest for green energy. Hydropower is not possible obviously because of geographical reason. Nuclear energy will be the last resort also due to its potential hazards. Other forms of energy are still under careful analysis on feasibility and affordability. Singapore government set aside $300 million to develop alternative sources of energy like solar and bio-fuel 2 years ago.
But when we think carefully enough, new energy is not the only elixir to cure the global warming. With the foundation of National Environment Agency (NEA) in 2002, Singapore has started policy for conserving energy. NEA has put a significant amount of effort in educating people about efficient energy. The policy was widely spread through every possible media to the public. Their energy saving tips form switching off the stand by power of house hold appliances to using compact fluorescent lamps help people incorporate the efficient energy concept into their daily life style.
On the other hand, government is also trying to reduce the green house gas emissions in every possible scenario. Singapore ratified Kyoto protocol, an international treaty to legally bind the commitments of the nations for reduction of green house gases, in 2006 April. In October 2006, Singapore switched its emission standard from Euro 2 to Euro 4 which is more stringent so that Singapore’s ambient air quality can be maintained. Last year SMRT played a part with ‘Go Green with SMRT’ campaign to encourage the public to commute in public transport rather than private vehicles.
Moreover laws and regulations are also enforced to minimize the industries’ impact on air quality. They are there to make sure that every manufacturing company in Singapore complies with pollution control requirements. Companies are also encouraged to come up with their own ecoprojects to manage their waste and chemical disposal.
Actually Singapore has already met its 2012 target of reducing carbon intensity level by 25% from its level in 1990. Carbon intensity is a measure of Carbon dioxide emission per dollar generated by economy. But we still can and should do more. All of us have moral duty towards our next gernerations. Efforts called for are hard, but the results will be excellent if everyone participates at the right level of commitment and responsibility. Then only we will be able to pass down a greener Gaia to our future generations.
With references to
http://www.nea.gov.sg/
www.wildsingapore.com
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
An Expanding Engineering World and Multi-disciplinary Culture
Suffice it to say that engineers are good at dealing with complex information, processing that information and deducing solutions to the problems from them. To begin with, engineers by nature are people who love analytical thinking, problem solving and designing. I would say those abilities are innate to most of them to a certain extent. For example, in general, those who hate mathematics or programming may find engineering as a major challenge.
Education helps students with inherent reasoning and critical thinking skill sets enhance their potential to the next level. Since engineering has its roots in science, the concept of cause and effect is a very prominent aspect of engineering. That is why it is a second nature for engineers to find root causes of the problem first before tackling it. When they have found possible root causes, engineers screen through them, make discussions and pull out and prioritize the most possible ones so that they can have a list of corresponding solutions. Finally they come up with the most efficient solution that is well harmonious with the business objectives.
As engineering students, we have been under constant exposure to the contexts of analysis, design and troubleshooting. Especially when we do projects, not only the process of algorithmic thinking but also the elements of human relation, interpersonal communication, time management and presentation skills come into picture. Each of these qualities contributes to the making of an engineer. Hence, engineers are able to adapt the industries other than manufacturing – service industry for instance.
The idea of cross-discipline makes it possible for engineers to work in a range of fields. We have already heard about engineers in banking, sales, marketing and many other areas. It is indeed good news but that raises a question. How do we define ‘Engineer’? It was obvious back then that people who build sky-rise buildings, tunnels and shopping malls were regarded as engineers. Since a few decades ago, people started relating engineers with their everyday electronics gadgets. I understand that the term becomes looser and vaguer as it evolves. But will it not be controversial to call a sales personnel who is not from engineering background but with technical knowledge-so that he can raise his sales pitch to attract customers-a sales ENGINEER? Simply put, does this type of job scope fall under engineering category? It may or may not matter. It is just my opinion.
Education helps students with inherent reasoning and critical thinking skill sets enhance their potential to the next level. Since engineering has its roots in science, the concept of cause and effect is a very prominent aspect of engineering. That is why it is a second nature for engineers to find root causes of the problem first before tackling it. When they have found possible root causes, engineers screen through them, make discussions and pull out and prioritize the most possible ones so that they can have a list of corresponding solutions. Finally they come up with the most efficient solution that is well harmonious with the business objectives.
As engineering students, we have been under constant exposure to the contexts of analysis, design and troubleshooting. Especially when we do projects, not only the process of algorithmic thinking but also the elements of human relation, interpersonal communication, time management and presentation skills come into picture. Each of these qualities contributes to the making of an engineer. Hence, engineers are able to adapt the industries other than manufacturing – service industry for instance.
The idea of cross-discipline makes it possible for engineers to work in a range of fields. We have already heard about engineers in banking, sales, marketing and many other areas. It is indeed good news but that raises a question. How do we define ‘Engineer’? It was obvious back then that people who build sky-rise buildings, tunnels and shopping malls were regarded as engineers. Since a few decades ago, people started relating engineers with their everyday electronics gadgets. I understand that the term becomes looser and vaguer as it evolves. But will it not be controversial to call a sales personnel who is not from engineering background but with technical knowledge-so that he can raise his sales pitch to attract customers-a sales ENGINEER? Simply put, does this type of job scope fall under engineering category? It may or may not matter. It is just my opinion.
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