How are energy startups in Singapore playing a role in the global energy transition? Lucas Tay reports.
SIEW Energy Insights features the latest research and perspectives on key energy issues, and this year's staging provided a showcase of innovative Singapore energy start-ups and their solutions for a lower carbon future.
Energy Market Authority Chairman, Richard Lim, opened the session by observing that
the global energy landscape is going through a major shift today—with a growing urgency to strengthen initiatives to address global climate change.
He highlighted how Singapore will enhance the energy efficiency of its natural gas power plants, scale up solar energy deployment, tap into regional power grids and explore low carbon alternatives such as hydrogen and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS).
In his Keynote Address, The Hon. Bill Johnston MLA, Minister for Mines; Petroleum; Energy; Corrective Services, Western Australia, shared that the country’s government is working with all sectors to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. He further outlined Australia’s roadmap for secure, reliable and affordable electricity in the future.
Sparking the next wave of energy innovators
Six local start-ups from this year’s Shell StartUp Engine Singapore cohort then took the stage to showcase their latest innovations and how they are supporting sustainable development for Singapore and the world. Nicole Pauh, Social Investment Advisor at Shell Singapore, delivered the introduction.
- Shin Ng, CEO and Co-Founder of RushOwl, shared how the company aims to utilise its artificial intelligence-driven platform to create a next-gen mass transit network online. This would consolidate demand and pool commuters into high-capacity vehicles that would send them to their destinations—while helping to create greater accessibility and reduce carbon emissions on roads.
- Goh Eng Wei, CTO and Co-Founder of BeeX, said underwater work, when done by marine robots, usually requires a large support vessel which is expensive and highly polluting. He outlined how the company's fully integrated approach to maritime autonomy can be a key enabler to reducing emissions, removing the need for large vessels and specialised personnel to be sent offshore.
- Peter Finn, CEO and Co-Founder, Synectify, highlighted how technology can be tapped to support renewable energy developments: by capturing surplus energy and reducing the impact on grids, while providing revenue-generating computing services. Synectify also aims to create a global, decentralised spot market for carbon-negative computing power.
- Tulika Raj, CEO and Co-Founder, SunGreenH2, discussed the company’s initiatives to accelerate net-zero carbon emissions by unlocking the potential of green hydrogen—using nanotechnology to significantly improve hydrogen production.
- Kang Chui Jia, Marketing Lead at Green COP, talked about how the company is planning to scale up its Bio-CAP technology, which converts agricultural biowaste into bio-resources such as biofuels and sugar, through a more efficient process that generates no secondary waste.
- Massimo Spina, Co-Founder of reActo, discussed the company's innovation efforts to atomically bond graphene to electrodes, drastically improving the decomposition rate of organic pollutants.
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