SINGAPORE, 12 Oct 2021 – The National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) announced today that the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has joined the Singapore Energy Centre (SgEC) as a research performer.
The news was unveiled at the SgEC’s inaugural clean energy workshop, held virtually over Zoom and broadcasted live on YouTube. The workshop brings together researchers and representatives from various agencies and related industries to unpack ways to accelerate Singapore’s clean energy transition efforts, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in the industry.
As the newest research performer in the team, A*STAR researchers can collaborate in energy-related research with researchers from NUS and NTU, as well as other SgEC industrial members. Founded jointly by NUS and NTU in 2018, with ExxonMobil as its first founding member, the SgEC was developed to focus on energy innovation and lower emissions technologies relevant for Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region.
To date, the SgEC has progressed 18 core and member-directed R&D projects focused on developing technologies to reduce emissions or modeling studies to understand energy pathways. This includes technologies that enhance the efficiency of fuel and chemical production, increase options for low-carbon hydrogen and sustainable polymers, and enable regional carbon dioxide capture and sequestration options.
The addition of a new research performer signals the importance of research and development in progressing potential clean energy solutions that can benefit many sectors.
The inaugural workshop was attended by representatives from agencies and companies including the Singapore Economic Development Board, Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), Keppel, TechnipFMC, Thai Oil Public Company Limited and Worley Southeast Asia. The virtual event saw an exciting line-up of keynote speeches and panel discussions on topics such as carbon capture and storage, and options to import hydrogen from the region to Singapore.
Director at the SgEC, Associate Professor Lee Poh Seng who’s also from the NUS Department of Mechanical Engineering said, “SgEC is a platform that allows research performers, government agencies and industry players to come together to jointly conduct R&D on innovative technologies for the transition towards a low-carbon economy. We are excited to have A*STAR on board, and we welcome more organizations to join us in this research journey with SgEC to further our access to the best research infrastructure and talent pool in the local R&D ecosystem. SgEC is well-positioned to address the various energy grand challenges with our partners.”
Co-Director at SgEC, Professor Xu Rong, who’s also from NTU’s School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering said, “A collective effort is vital in solving the grand challenges we face in energy transition and climate change. With A*STAR on board, SgEC connects industrial partners to a broader talent pool. This will also provide new opportunities for NUS, NTU and A*STAR researchers to collaborate in the cross fields and develop innovative low-carbon energy solutions.”
Professor Loh Xian Jun, Executive Director of A*STAR’s Urban and Green Technology Horizontal Technology Programme Office, said, “Science and technology play a key role in developing solutions for a sustainable Singapore. We are excited to join SgEC and deepen our collaboration with the rest of the research, innovation and enterprise (RIE) ecosystem in the area of sustainability. We will contribute capabilities from across our research institutes as we co-innovate energy solutions for Singapore.”
ExxonMobil Energy Center Advisor Dr. Adam Usadi added, “Collaboration and innovation are crucial to progressing technologies to meet society’s energy needs. It takes collective passion and teamwork over several years for a new idea to be tested and evaluated before it advances to a scalable technology solution that can be applied. The SgEC’s expansion to include A*STAR along with NUS and NTU, brings even greater expertise and increases its capability to progress research in lower-emission energy solutions for Singapore, Asia and the world.”
For example, two R&D projects focused on low emissions hydrogen show the breadth of activities.
The results of the recently completed Core R&D project on a low emissions hydrogen production technology from NTU’s Prof Chan Siew Hua were described in a patent filing, Zhang Lan; Chan Siew Hwa; Miao Bin. Composite Material, Its Manufacturing, Generation and Use in Methane Cracking.US Patent Application No. 17/246,381. A composite catalyst for methane cracking has been developed, the desired carbon materials can be achieved by tweaking the formula of composite catalyst.
An exploration of options for low cost, low emissions hydrogen production, transport, end-use technologies and supply chains for Singapore and its regional neighbors, led by NUS Prof I. Karimi as part of a Member Directed Research Project with ExxonMobil, was described in Hong, X. et al, Techno-enviro-economic analyses of hydrogen supply chains with an ASEAN case study, Int’l Jrnl of Hydrogen Energy, 46, 65, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.07.138.
SgEC Workshop: Challenges and opportunities in accelerating low carbon energy transitions – 12 October 2021
Session 1: Keynote Presentations
Session 2: Panel Discussion
Session 3: Invited Presentations
Session 4: SgEC Project Presentations
