The clean energy industry in Singapore - and indeed, the environment - recently got a boost when it was announced that S$50 million (US$34.5 million) would go towards funding R&D for clean energy, while S$25 million (US$17.2 million) will be allocated for clean energy scholarships.

As the environmental situation becomes dire, the need to find commercially sustainable solutions increases. The Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO) has responded by launching the Clean Energy Research Programme (CERP), which aims to accelerate R&D efforts to support the growth of the clean energy industry in Singapore. It's a competitive funding initiative that will support both upstream and downstream interdisciplinary and commercially-relevant R&D efforts.

The programme follows the announcement in March 2007 by the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC), chaired by Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, that the Republic will pursue the clean energy initiative, with an emphasis on solar energy, as a key growth area. CEPO expects the clean energy industry to contribute S$1.7 billion (US$1.2 million) to the GDP and create 7,000 jobs by 2015.

Funding support

Over the next five years, CERP will provide funding to both the industry and academic/research communities for basic and applied research projects, which pursue innovative and novel ideas. However, these projects would need to have potential for the commercialisation of new processes, technologies or products.

Under CERP, R&D proposals will be received through calls for proposals in specific themes identified by CEPO or in open-theme calls. Singapore-based local and foreign R&D organisations, including institutes of higher learning, public sector agencies, private sector companies and not-for-profit research laboratories, are encouraged to bid for the research funding.

"R&D is the first step in finding commercially relevant solutions that can be exported from Singapore." - Dr Stephen Wittkopf, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore

"There is much potential for research in niche clean energy areas like Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) that are optimised for our climatic conditions. R&D is the first step in finding commercially relevant solutions that can be exported from Singapore. This announcement from the government will go a long way in supporting the efforts of the research community here," says Dr Stephen Wittkopf, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore.

Each year, CEPO will issue two calls for proposals on identified research areas. While the inaugural call, which began in early November, is only open to proposals in the solar domain, subsequent calls may include other aspects of clean energy like fuel cells, wind and hydro-related systems. For more details and to download the Request-For-Proposal (RFP), log onto http://rita.nrf.gov.sg/cerp.

Developing relevant manpower

In terms of manpower development, the S$25 million (US$17.2 million) programme for clean energy scholarships is part of a broader strategy of manpower development for the industry. It aims to sponsor some 130 students over five years in post-graduate degrees relevant to the sector.

There are two specific scholarship programmes - the NRF (Clean Energy) PhD Scholarships, which is wholly supported by the government, and the NRF (Clean Energy) Company Scholarships, which involve the sharing of training costs between the government and the industry.

The former aims to train the next generation of research and professional leaders in the clean energy industry. Besides working in selected R&D areas in line with Singapore's clean energy roadmap, scholars will also work with renowned professors. For the latter, CEPO, in partnership with companies, will co-share the cost of Masters and PhD scholarships for study at locally-based universities. Upon graduation, scholars will work for the partner companies. CEPO is also working closely with the universities and polytechnics on specialised clean energy programmes to train skilled manpower both at diploma and degree levels. Altogether, the combined initiatives will groom 200-250 skilled manpower for the industry annually.

"The worldwide clean energy industry is expanding rapidly in the face of rising costs of conventional sources of energy and climate change. Singapore is developing clean energy as a future growth area. With clean energy scholarships, we hope to groom future technology and industry leaders to power our clean energy industry forward," says Ko Kheng Hwa, Executive Director, CEPO, and Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board.

To find out more about CEPO, visit its website at www.cepo.sg.