JTC makes two innovation calls to improve sustainability on Jurong Island
THE government is calling for innovative ideas to enhance sustainability and circularity of resources as well as test-bedding renewable energy solutions on Jurong Island.
The innovation calls were announced on Thursday by Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng at the closing webinar of the Jurong Island Circular Economy (JICE) study.
The first call, the Jurong Island Innovation Challenge, involves crowdsourcing ideas from startups and small and medium enterprises. These ideas are meant to overcome challenge statements put together by some of the largest industry players on Jurong Island, including Shell and Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore, according to a statement from the industrial development planning agency JTC.
The challenge statements cover four key themes meant to boost resource efficiency - energy efficiency, emissions reduction, water management and chemical waste management.
For example, Shell is exploring ways to extract valuable resources from waste while also reducing the amount of waste sent for incineration.
The second innovation call - Jurong Island Renewable Energy Request-for-Proposals - is scheduled to be launched in October.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
It will focus on test-bedding innovative energy solutions, including renewable energy and energy storage systems to reduce the island's carbon footprint, JTC said. Some examples include high-efficiency solar panels and solar deployment on pipe racks and storage tanks.
Announcing the two calls, Dr Tan said: "This marks a milestone for Jurong Island as we bring various stakeholders together for the first time to test, to implement, and to scale up sustainable solutions on the island."
These innovation calls follow pain points identified by the JICE, which was launched in 2019 and involved 51 companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell.
Led by JTC, the companies shared data through the circular economy study on energy, water and waste flows on Jurong Island.
"The study has provided us with precious insight into potential synergies that could reduce resource use at a systems level, and boost Jurong Island's competitiveness," said Dr Tan, adding that it highlighted opportunities in three areas.
The first is in greater clean energy use and exploration of new technologies, as projects on clean energy technologies can reduce the overall carbon footprint of Jurong Island.
As a follow-up to the study, JTC, Singapore LNG Corporation and other agencies are embarking on a new project to pursue the use of cold technology for the Jurong Island ecosystem, he said.
The second insight is that water recycling and recovery systems can be improved. For example, companies can direct their liquid waste streams to a centralised recovery facility for aggregation and to promote further recycling.
The third points to opportunities to work with stakeholders to testbed new technologies on sustainable recovery and treatment of chemical waste.
Meanwhile, the study also highlighted challenges faced in the implementation of such solutions.
For instance, some clean energy technologies have not reached the level of maturity for deployment, while water-recycling technologies tend to be energy-intensive. There is also a need to develop more efficient technologies to treat and recover resources from chemical waste.
Dr Tan said: "Our hope is that the JICE study and innovation calls will help catalyse new ideas, underscore how our industrial estates can be a living testbed for new solutions that could serve as engines of growth for the future, and give new impetus for our energy and chemicals sector to enhance its competitiveness and produce sustainably for the world."
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
