Singapore: Government to fund green initiatives
S$17 million has been set aside by the Singapore Government for environmentally-friendly initiatives in the transport sector. The money would go towards fuhding various green initiatives, an example of which is the research in the fields of energy efficiency and emission standards in land transport. So far, out of the 4 proposed plans, 2 are unsuitable for our local markets, mainly due to cost. One of the measures studied the the feasibility of retrofitting older diesel-powered vehicles with filters which helps to reduce the amount of black soot. Although the filters have proven to be extremely effective, the high costs are inhibitive; S$17,000 on installation per vehicle along with a maintenance cost of S$2,400 per year has deterred the widespread use of such a technology. The one year trial, costing a whopping $500,000, involves a fleet of 38 vehicles, ended last January.
The other plan that is not feasible is the use of hybrid public buses. SBS Transit has trialled 2 of such buses, which altogether used 25% less fuel than a typical diesel powered bus. However, that is an insignificant saving compared to the relatively high purchase price of the vehicles. Besides that, the higher cost of maintenance also deters their use.
So far, $4.6 million has been spent. Out of that sum of money, a rather significant $2.9 million has been used to co-fund an emission test lab managed and operated by Vicom, and will cost $5.8 million to build. The remaining $12.4 million would most probably end up being used to set up the EV infrastructure locally. With all that emphasis on the EV infrastructure, do expect a surge in EV sales!
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