This year's Singapore International Energy Week engaged the youths on energy concerns for the first time. In dialogue with S Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, and Second Minister for Home Affairs & Trade and Industry, the 160 -plus students showed their intellectual mettle with questions ranging from technical challenges such as grid parity to more immediate concerns like jobs in the energy sector.
Alongside this, snap polls were also held to gauge the youths' perceptions on global energy issues and challenges. The pool comprised secondary to tertiary students. The results reveal what's topmost on the youths' minds.
Snap Poll 1: To improve energy efficiency in Singapore, we need more…
Nearly half the students (46 percent) indicated that innovation in energy efficient technologies is what Singapore needs more of. Also important was having laws & regulations to ensure organisations implement energy efficient measures, which was voted by 29 percent of the students as being most needed to improve energy efficiency in Singapore.
Snap Poll 2: Do you know about the Energy Conservation Act (ECA) in Singapore?
Over two-thirds of the students polled were ignorant of the Energy Conservation Act (ECA) in Singapore, while the remaining 29 percent indicated that they had some knowledge of it.
Snap Poll 3: Which 2 sectors are the top consumers of energy in Singapore?
71 percent of the youths voted correctly that "Industry and Commercial activities" are among the top consumers of energy in Singapore.
Snap Poll 4: What do you think is most important for Singapore's energy policy?
This question touched on Singapore's energy trilemma, and all three answers provided were equally important. It was interesting to note that half the students (50 percent) chose "Environmental sustainability" as most important, followed by 31 percent who picked "Energy security". Only 19 percent of the students voted "Economic competitiveness" as the most important factor in the city-state's energy policy.
Snap Poll 5: What is Singapore's main source of fuel?
70 percent of those polled gave their answer as "Gas", with 24 percent picking Singapore's main source of fuel as "Petroleum".
Snap Poll 6: What is your biggest concern in the future of energy?
The students were rather evenly divided in their views on this. Depletion of energy sources emerged tops with 36 percent votes, followed by concerns over rising tensions with regional countries over energy supplies, which garnered 26 percent of votes. Concerns over rising temperatures and global warming followed closely with a 22 percent share of the poll, while the remaining 16 percent went to the damage that will be wrought on the environment in the search for more energy supply.
Snap Poll 7: Are you keen to build a career in the energy sector?
43 percent of the students indicated that they were keen to build a career in the energy sector. An almost equal number (40 percent) were undecided, while 17 percent of the students indicated that they were not interested in a career in the energy sector.
Snap Poll 8: What will encourage you to consider working in the energy sector?
As was expected of the practical Singaporean, a good (starting) pay was top consideration for 53 percent of the students. The next important factor was having internship opportunities, which took 24 percent of the total votes. This was followed closely by 19 percent of student voters who felt that having scholarships will encourage them to consider working in the energy sector.
Half of the students polled chose clean energy (solar, wind, biomass) as the sector they would be most interested to work in. The next two choices were for energy trading and financing (19 percent), and energy efficiency management (17 percent). Less than 15 percent of students opted for oil and gas, and power generation and utilities--sectors which were perceived as less sexy, but which Minister Iswaran said were critical industries in the energy field.
By :EMA Staff