It was announced during Budget 2018 that all facilities producing 25,000 tonnes or more of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in a year will have to pay a carbon tax from 2020. The carbon tax will initially be $5 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions from 2019 to 2023. However, the Government will review the carbon tax rate by 2023, with plans to increase it to between $10 and $15 per tonne of emissions by 2030.
The carbon tax is part of a suite of measures that will help Singapore meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where Singapore has pledged to reduce its emissions intensity (GHG emissions per dollar of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) by 36% from 2005 levels by 2030, and to stabilise our emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030. The Paris Agreement entered into force in November 2016.
The Energy Conservation Act (ECA) was gazetted in April 2013 which requires companies to register with the National Environment Agency (NEA) as a registrable corporation upon meeting certain qualifications and to implement mandatory energy management practices. These practices include: 1) Appointment of an Energy Manager 2) Periodic reporting of energy use covering each business activity under operational control of the registered corporation 3) Periodic submission of an energy efficiency improvement plan which covers a period of not less than 1 year and not more than 5 years. The ECA was enhanced in 2017 to strengthen the measurement and reporting (M&R) requirements for GHG emissions. The M&R requirements aim to improve the accuracy and rigour of GHG emissions data, in order to improve the credibility of GHG data reported to the UNFCCC.
The Monitoring Plan identifies and describes the facility’s GHG emission sources and streams, emissions quantification methods, alternative methods, quality management procedures and uncertainty. The Monitoring Plan submission includes the Monitoring Plan Template (‘MP Template’) and the necessary supporting documents. The facility is required to use the MP Template provided by National Environment Agency (NEA) which can be downloaded online from the Emissions Data Monitoring and Analysis (EDMA) system. The Monitoring Plan submission will need to be uploaded via the EDMA system and approved by NEA before the start of the first reporting period.
The Emissions Report for each reporting period contains information on the facility’s activity data, computation for each direct GHG emissions, and the total direct GHG emissions. The Emissions Report is prepared based on the approved Monitoring Plan and uses the Emissions Report User-Interface (UI) provided online by NEA in the (EDMA) system. This Emissions Report UI builds on the forms and templates used for energy use reporting and IPPU (Industrial Processes and Product Use) emissions reporting under the ECA prior to the implementation of the GHG Measurement & Reporting (M&R) Regulations.
An effective Quality Management Framework (QMF) is crucial in ensuring data quality. Under the GHG M&R Regulations, the facility is required to develop, document, implement and maintain an appropriate QMF for the collection, computation, and reporting of GHG emissions data. Systematic biases or errors are assumed to be eliminated given the requirement for the facility to implement a QMF.
The various inventory development stages are defined below which will consist of the various QMF elements.
- Inventory preparation and management
- Data gathering, input and handling
- Data documentation, reporting and review
Resources are available to assist companies in the area of energy efficiency. An example is the Energy Efficient Singapore website (http://www.e2singapore.gov.sg/default.aspx) which is an initiative of the Energy Efficiency Programme Office (E2PO). The E2PO is a multi-agency committee that jointly promotes and facilitates the adoption of energy efficiency in Singapore led by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and NEA.
The Energy Efficient Singapore website has a section dedicated to industries which contains links to documents and videos which provide insights into what the general industry is doing to improve energy efficiency such as best practice guides, assessment frameworks etc. Information on programmes and incentive schemes to help companies in this area are also readily accessible from the same website.
Reference: GHG Measurement and Reporting Guidelines Parts I and II (ver 29 Dec 2017)
Contributed by: SCIC P&E (Process & Engineering) Committee
