Singapore is geographically small. The total area of the city state numbers just 271 square miles. The country is comprised of 63 individual islands. 25% of the gross national product of Singapore comes from refining of raw materials. Another 25% is derived from transport and brokerage of same. All of this industrialization has not come without an ecological price. 100 years ago 90% of the land of Singapore was rain forest. That number plummeted to less than 15% before reforestation measures restored the rain forest to almost 25% of the usable land.
Singapore has become one of, if not the most, technologically advanced nations of the world. They lead the world in implementation of cutting edge clean technologies. A shining example of this is Singapore’s new Clean Tech Industrial Park. As part of a grand plan to achieve energy efficiency and total sustainability the government’s economic development board has partnered with the local corporate community to set up a Green Development area. Not only is the project location itself setup for minimum eco-impact and maximum sustainability, but the work within the park is all focused upon development of clean tech solutions. It is the plan of the government of Singapore to lead the world in this area. Situated on 50 hectares of land the project, to be completed by 2030 will accommodate 20,000 workers. Emphasis on the development in placed on minimizing the office and industrial impact on the land. Simple ideas such as implementation of underground parking and passive lighting are blended with high tech solar power installations. Land optimization seems to be the central theme as all buildings are designed to return more of the original rain forest to the island.
Singapore is a unique South Pacific weigh station in that it prospers as the ultimate global corporate middleman. This new industrial park will exist to develop sustainability technologies as well as incorporate them. The park streets will be lit exclusively with LEDS, the development of which having taken place in Singapore. The specific designs of these are then licensed for manufacture throughout the world. Rainwater is collected on the roofs of the massive office buildings. The system used for this gathering is further developed and marketed. Singapore became one of the wealthiest nations in the world by refining raw materials and exporting them around the word. Now they will likely pioneer the “Green age” by refining sustainability techniques and selling those ideas.
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