Hello everyone!
Now that we’re approaching the end of this carpet ride, I think it’s time to discuss wind energy in relation to Singapore (in case you didn’t realise, the title is from Singapura, Sunny Island, one of my favourite SG songs).
Singapore currently has one wind turbine on Pulau Semakau (the landfill island) and is one of the components in NTU’s Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator – Singapore (REIDS), where they are looking into building power grids so that Singapore (and Southeast Asia) can be powered more on cleaner energy in the future. This is good but unfortunately, Singapore’s mainland isn’t very suitable for wind energy. Firstly, we don’t have a lot of space (I think we all know this). Since wind turbines need to be at least 7 times the diameter of the rotor apart, and the average rotor diameter is already more than 100m and projected to increase since a larger diameter can increase the amount of energy produced. The wind speed is also below cut-in speed for many turbines (I feel like it’s really windy but I guess it’s not enough :/), and most of our land is occupied by our urban jungle, while turbines should ideally be located in rural areas. As for offshore wind, while wind speed can be higher at sea, I think that the presence of wind turbines could disrupt important shipping routes (the link has a really cool interactive map showing shipping routes), so it’s probably not a very viable option.
Coincidentally (or maybe they’re spying on me), I came across advertisements for the energy future of Singapore and the video I’ve linked below is about the possibility of regional power grids.
If we can collaborate with our neighbouring countries, we could possibly be able to use more renewable energy, which includes wind energy. Singapore is already discussing this with Malaysia. Indonesia can expand its wind energy production, while Malaysia may have the potential for wind energy but more research needs to be done. However, I think that the construction of power lines between countries to channel the energy could possibly be harmful to the environment if not managed properly. For example, marine life could be disturbed (remember the cables between offshore wind farms and land, I think it could be like that) and the production and laying of cables would contribute to emissions. It could be beneficial in the long run though if the reduction in the use of less green energy balances out with these impacts.
In conclusion, while local wind energy is generally not a good energy option for Singapore, we could possibly be able to use more clean energy. I hope that you’re not too disappointed that wind energy can’t be used here, but the government is looking more into solar, so we could have cleaner energy in the future.
Till we meet again!
~Rayzel
Wonderful post, Rayzel !
Wow, you really did a great job these last two weeks.
Let me encourage you to look into the concept of small, urban turbines, designed for rooftops. One model is the Archemides, made by a Dutch company. Such solutions don’t solve the problem of low wind speed, but do offer an appropriate solution for high-density urban areas. There are other models too.
What do you think ?
jc
Hi Dr Coleman!
I took a look at these small turbines and they look very interesting! I think that they can help to generate electricity in urban areas and also reduce the problem of the transportation of energy from wind farms to cities since the turbines are on top of the buildings that they produce the electricity for. However, I don’t think that they can meet energy demand fully if we’re talking about Singapore, since Singapore’s problem is the wind speed. For other countries with higher wind speeds and frequencies, I think that small turbines like the Archimedes should be able to contribute greatly to electricity production, especially since they are horizontal-axis turbines which are more efficient and they have a mechanism which allows them to spin to meet the wind flow. I’m not entirely sure about output, but one Archimedes turbine seems to only be able to power about 4.5 3-room flats so I don’t think that one HDB building has the space to install enough turbines to power the whole block fully. So I don’t think wind energy can meet energy needs completely in urban areas, or at least not yet. I did come across this cool wind turbine which is combined with solar panels to get even more energy though, but I can’t tell how much more energy it generates.
~Rayzel
Hi Rayzel! I think it’s great that Singapore is moving towards cleaner energy sources. Collaborating with other countries to tap on renewable energy is something that never crossed my mind and your post definitely opened my eyes to a new possibility! While tapping on solar energy could sound like a good idea in sunny Singapore, solar energy isn’t completely innocent either and manufacturing photovoltaic cells often involves the use of toxic components that can harm the environment. Do you think there could be any other viable energy alternatives for Singapore?
Hi Sarah-Ann!
I didn’t know about the possibility of getting cleaner energy from other countries either until those ads popped up when I was watching shows hahaha! I never thought that I would be thankful for advertisements :). Anyway, regarding your question on other possible energy sources for Singapore, sadly, I don’t think that there are any other than solar and possibly wind. Dr Coleman’s comment on this post mentioned small wind turbines which can be installed on top of buildings but I think that they have their limitations in terms of energy production. This page lists out why Singapore can’t use many other types of renewable energy, but the gist of it is that we’re too small and we don’t have the natural resources available to use to generate cleaner energy :(, which is why I’m hoping that we’ll be able to work with our neighbouring countries and be able to use some of their renewable energy! So, unfortunately, I think that solar and maybe wind. to a small extent, are currently our only options for cleaner energy. Also, wind energy isn’t completely clean either, but it’s still better than natural gas in my opinion, so I think we should invest more research into improving solar and wind energy.
~Rayzel