ENHANCING PUBLIC

UNDERSTANDING OF

RENEWABLE ENERGY

ES1531 POSITION PAPER

RAISING PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF RENEWABLE ENERGY BY

CLEARING MISCONCEPTIONS AMONG THE PUBLIC.

1. BACKGROUND

In PV Asia Pacific (PVAP) Expo & Conference, Senior Minister of State for Trade &
Industry, Lee Yi Shyan (2012), noted that with rising energy costs and increasing concerns
over the environment, countries around the world have become more serious in their efforts
to develop clean and renewable energy options. First, due to the increased emission of
greenhouse gases and pollutants from burning of fossil fuels for power generation, the effects
of global warming in Singapore are accelerated. Global warming is an important issue for
Singapore due to her low-lying islands. The rise in sea level reduces the coastal land size and
floods the densely built-up financial hub(Low and Cheong 2008). Second, for the period from
1 Jan to 31 Mar 2012, electricity tariffs increased by an average of 2.3% as higher fuel prices
have resulted in higher power generation costs. The average fuel oil price over the three-
month period (1 Oct to 15 Dec 2011) increased by 4.4%, from S$121.68 to S$127.07 per
barrel (SP Services, 2011).With rapid depletion of oil reserves in the world, the continual
increase in global energy demands and high oil prices will lead to expensive electricity bills
for the households in the future.
As the current generation does not face the immediate danger of neither the effects of global
warming nor energy crisis, most Singaporeans do not feel the urgency or interest in taking
efforts to clear their preconceived notions about renewable energy. This lack of ungency or
interest acts as deterrence for the public when it comes to understanding the importance and
actual facts of renewable energy. As such, the resulting failure of the public to have their
misconceptions cleared about renewable energy and subsequently embrace renewable energy
harbingers the two major abovementioned problems in the near future.

2. AIM

In Singapore context, adopting renewable energy means that clean energy generated from
renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal achieves zero or very little
greenhouse gas emission thereby, alleviating the negative impacts of global warming
affecting Singapore. Second, since renewable energy also offers cheaper, efficient and
reliable energy solutions over imported fossil fuels such as natural gas and crude oil, this
translates to lower electricity tariffs and cheaper utilities bills for Singapore households in the
future. Hence, in order to counter the aforementioned problems, this position paper aims to
clear the misconceptions about renewable energy technologies among the public so that the
public would have clearer understanding of the benefits and importance of renewable energy
and thus would switch over to renewable energy technologies and have them incorporated
into their lives as well as be more inclined to push for government policies that implement
renewable energy technologies in place of conventional fossil fuels island-wide for public use
and main energy production.

3. CURRENT RESPONSE

3.1 Public outreach by government measures is ineffective

The Government has been holding various talks and seminars to discuss the implementation
of alternate energy sources among the public forum. Singapore International Energy Week
(SIEW) is a week-long energy conference comprising a number of exhibitions, workshops
and networking sessions focused on key issues within the energy industry. The government
also has Facebook pages for their agencies - Energy Market Authority and the National
Environmental Agency-in an attempt to connect with the public on social network.
The outreach of Singapore International Energy Week and other campaigns is very small.
The talks, seminars, workshops are targeted towards the academic section of the public rather
than the general public audience at grass-root level which fundamentally does not help in
enhancing the public understanding of renewable energy. Furthermore, National
Environmental Agency and the Energy Market Authority have only 747
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Environment-Agency/136952146326396?fref=ts
)and 58 likes ( https://www.facebook.com/pages/Energy-Market-
Authority/136631649735930) on Facebook respectively while in comparison the Singapore
Police Force has around 300,000 likes
(https://www.facebook.com/singaporepoliceforce?fref=ts), illustrating weak public
engagement on social media. Thus the general misconceptions and doubts about renewable
energy prevalent in a common person are left unaddressed and unanswered.

3.2 Incorporation of renewable technologies in public households is still at infancy

In collaboration between Panasonic and three government agencies – Singapore's Energy

Market Authority, Economic Development Board and HDB, 10 homes in Block 109C,
Edgedale Plains in Punggol Eco-town is a test bed for green energy solutions. Close to 190
solar panels have been installed at the block’s rooftop, and lifts and lights in common areas
will be powered entirely by solar energy, achieving zero emission. Panasonic says it expects
20 per cent savings for households (http://www.greenbusinesstimes.com/2012/06/27/10-
homes-to-test-new-energy-management-system-news/).

Though the successfully- running of Punggol Eco-Town might dispel some misconceptions
of renewable energy among public such as renewable energy technologies are not viable in
land-scarce Singapore and too expensive and complicated for public usage, its impact is very
limited as renewable energy technologies are used only in one block in Punggol and not on
large scale such as the scenario in which the whole estate of Punggol runs on the electricity
produced from renewable energy. Therefore, that since one HDB block is run successfully by
renewable energy, all public housing flats in Singapore would also run efficiently with no
hiccups on renewable energy technology becomes misleading and fallacious. This would do
little in clearing the misconceptions about renewable energy among the public to a large
extent.

3.3 Private companies’ efforts in clearing misconceptions about renewable energy are
limited.

One such private corporation taking efforts to clear misconceptions and raise public
understanding of renewable energy is Photovoltaic Technology (Singapore). One of their
missions is to increase the awareness and promote the use of renewable energy. The company
also strives to create positive publicity and enhance public image of renewable energy on
organizational level thereby engaging in efforts to clear current misconceptions about
renewable energy among public. (http://www.pvtechsg.com/about.html).

However there are very few private corporations that deal in clearing misconceptions about
renewable energy on public level. Most often, many renewable-energy corporate companies
take steps to raise the understanding of renewable energy among business clients and
potential investors, so that the former could attract business opportunities and increase their
revenue. Thus only a small sector of the public is given the opportunity to have their
misconceptions about renewable energy cleared.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Government disseminating knowledge effectively through social media

Most misconceptions among the public could be solved with proper communication channel
to disseminate information, but there seems to be a wide gap between the government and the
public on the information spectrum.

The social media is the current hotspot for public discussion pertaining to all kinds of topics
in the world. The easiest way to share information and get constructive feedback from the
public is through the social media. However, currently the government is not focusing
enough on harnessing the power of the social media to increase public awareness about
renewable energy and clear the latter’s misconceptions among the public. The following
evaluates the effectiveness of government agencies engaging social media to clear public's
misconceptions on renewable energy: First, by providing two-way channel of
communication, Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets allow the public to
respond, express their opinion, and ask questions about renewable energy. In return,
government agencies are given the opportunity to correct any misconceptions people may
have about the renewable energy and its implementation. Second, unlike most industrial
publications, social media enables government agencies to use simple language that will be
accessible to a larger audience. Explaining the importance and facts of renewable energy in
general and basic terms would ensure a better understanding from the public. In addition, the
informal tone will help bridge the gap between governmental agencies and public.

The drawback of this approach is that, the proportion of people using the social media is not
equal among the different age groups with the elderly being the least number of social media
users. However, since the youth, being leaders of tomorrow who influence policy making, are
the largest social media users, it is important that they have their misconceptions on
renewable energy cleared, so that they may embrace renewable energy and benefit from it in
the future.

4.2 Government providing incentives for households adopting renewable energy

One of the factors that leads to misconceptions about renewable energy among public is less
exposure of the public to the renewable energy and its benefits due to the fact that
implementation of renewable energy in households is still at infancy.

As such, to increase exposure of the public to the renewable energy and thus clear their
misconceptions of renewable energy, the government could roll out 'green' incentives to
attract people to implement renewable energy technologies in their households or let their
households participate in test beds for renewable-energy solutions. Some of the suggested
incentives might include tax incentives or energy rebates that encourage the households to
switch over to renewable energy for energy consumption, substantially discounted utilities
bills for 'green' homes and energy grants and subsidies for the households to buy energy
technologies such as solar panels. Therefore, when more households are incentivized to
implement renewable energy, more people would be willing to come forward to try out
renewable energy and thus would be exposed to the benefits of renewable energy such as
renewable energy being pollution-free, thus enabling them to lead eco-friendly lifestyles, and
cheaper than conventional fossil fuels. This increase in exposure is important as more
misconceptions about renewable energy among the public would be dispelled.

Despite of the incentives, some people might be reluctant in embracing renewable energy
owing to resistance to change. As such the government could persuade that it is the people
who will stand to gain from using renewable energy in the long run.

4.3 Environmental groups generating interest among public through engaging activities

More people would be interested in knowing about renewable energy if environmental groups
organized interactive and engaging activities aimed to clear the misconceptions of renewable
energy at the community level.
Interactive Seminars – e.g. “Greenmark” by Robb Mandelbaum from Discover June
2004(http://discovermagazine.com/2004/jun/greenmark/?searchterm=greenmark)

This article describes what residents on the Danish island of Samso have done to give up
fossil fuels by 2008, by using renewable energy sources. Participating members of the
seminar will read the article “Greenmark” and discuss within themselves the pros and cons of
what was done and if misconceptions among public could be eliminated. They will then share
their questions and concerns about renewable energy with the environmental authorities
present during the interactive sessions. This would pave way for the public to have their
doubts, negative perceptions and misunderstandings of renewable energy addressed
thoroughly as well as be given the chance to think whether or not that such a similar change
to renewable energy could be effected in their neighbourhood or in Singapore.

However engaging the activities might be, some may still not be interested as they feel no
urgency to understand renewable energy currently. As such, environmental groups might
address "better-to-be-safe-than-sorry" notions such as it would be too late and ineffective for
the public to understand and adopt renewable energy once the adverse effects of global
warming and energy crisis have started to precipitate in Singapore in order to stir a sense of
urgency in these people to have their misconceptions about renewable energy cleared earlier.

5. CONCLUSION

Public understanding of renewable energy is an important issue that the world faces currently
as conventional energy sources are depleting fast, the fuel cost is ever rising and effects of
global warming and climate change are accelerated. As such, one crucial factor that leads to
better public understanding of renewable energy is clearing of misconceptions about
renewable energy among the public.
Word Count : 1918 (including in-text citations and headers)
6. REFERENCES

Energy Market Authority. In Facebook [Official Page]. Retrieved on October, 18, 2012 from
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Energy-Market-Authority/136631649735930

Lee, Y. S. (2012), Opening Address by Senior Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan at PV Asia
Pacific Expo & Conference. Retrieved from
http://www.siew.sg/energy-perspectives/siew-2012/opening-address-senior-minister-state-
lee-yi-shyan-pv-asia-pacific-exp

Low, S. C., & Cheong, K. T.(2008). Singapore Clean Energy Policy. Retrieved
from http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/msclow/Singapore%20clean%20energy%20policy-
May%2008.pdf

Mandelbaum, R. (2004) Greenmark.Discover.Retrived from

http://discovermagazine.com/2004/jun/greenmark/?searchterm=greenmark

National Environment Agency. In Facebook [Official Page]. Retrieved on October, 18, 2012
from https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Environment-
Agency/136952146326396?fref=ts

Photovoltaic Technology.(2002).Our Philosophy and Vision. Retrieved from

http://www.pvtechsg.com/about.html

Singapore Police Force. In Facebook [Official Page]. Retrieved on October, 18, 2012 from
https://www.facebook.com/singaporepoliceforce?fref=ts

Singapore Power Services. (2011). ELECTRICITY TARIFF REVISION FOR THE PERIOD 1
JANUARY TO 31 MARCH 2012. Retrieved from
http://www.singaporepower.com.sg/irj/go/km/docs/documents/SP%20Content/Sites/Singapor
e%20Power/Site%20Contents/Newsroom/documents/Year%202011/Press%20Release%20-
%20Electricity%20Tariff%20Revision%20for%20the%20period%201Jan%20-
%2031Mar12.pdf

Tay, E. (2012). 10 homes to test new energy management system. Retrieved from
http://www.greenbusinesstimes.com/2012/06/27/10-homes-to-test-new-energy-management-
system-news/
7. APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Evaluation of Sources.

Selection of sources:

# Source Name Reason(s) for selecting the source

1. Google Most useful source in providing most relevant and up-to-date study
Search materials and information in answering our inquiries regarding the
Engine position paper

2. Nanyang It contains research papers written by eminent professors. Thus it

Technological provides highly reliable references to support our arguments in our
position paper.
University
online archive

3. Hosts a number of articles/journals pertinent to our position paper

topic.
Discover
Magazine
online site

Selection of most relevant reference

# Sourc The most relevant reference from the Reason(s) for selecting the
e source reference
Name
1. NTU Singapore Clean Energy Policy Gives the clearest picture of the
online current energy situation in
archiv Singapore
e
2. Singapore Power Services Provides accurate data in
Googl reference to the rising electricity
e prices
search
engine

3. “GreenMark” from Discover June Reference describes a well-

Discov 2004 executed model of disseminating
er knowledge about renewable
Maga energy among the public
zine