The Flying Saucer At Sunset

Lenticular clouds (Altocumulus lenticularis) are stationary lens-shaped clouds with a smooth layered appearance that form in the troposphere, usually above mountain ranges. One was spotted in Singapore recently...

Eyes Of 30,000 Honeycombs

With 30,000 individual facets, dragonflies have the most number of facets among insects. Each facet, or ommatidia, creates its own image, and the dragonfly brain has eight pairs of descending visual neurons to compile those thousands of images into one picture...

A Kaleidoscope Of Colours, Shapes And Patterns

Spectacular and innovative in design, the Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments...

Lightning Strikes, Not Once, But Many Times

Unlike light, lightning does not travel in a straight line. Instead, it has many branches. These other branches flashed at the same time as the main strike. The branches are actually the step leaders that were connected to the leader that made it to its target...

Are You My Dinner Tonight?

A T-Rex has 24-26 teeth on its upper jaw and 24 more on its lower jaw. Juveniles have small, sharp blade-shaped teeth to cut flesh, whereas adults have huge, blunt, rounded teeth for crushing bones. Is the T-Rex a bone-crushing scavenger?

EU Business Avenues - Clean Tech 2015

Singapore
June 2015

The Clean Technologies 2015 mission is part of the EU Business Avenues' inaugural mission in ASEAN with participation of 41 European companies selected by the European Union and will be held in June 2015 in both Singapore and Vietnam. The mission will include sector expert presentations, site visits, technical seminars, networking opportunities and a two-day 1-2-1 business matching event. Participating companies will also benefit from post-event meet-ups.

The welcoming banner to the event...

Singapore is recognized as a global leader in the environment and water sectors, being at the forefront of environmental innovation and an early adopter of solutions. With its government strongly involved in the promotion of the development of the local environment and water industries, the aim is to establish Singapore as a global R&D centre for renewable energy. The main focus will be on solar energy development, with effort put in to also promote wind energy, electric mobility, smart grids, biomass, fuel cells, energy efficiency, and carbon services.

The stage where the opening speech was made during the networking session...

The strong government support and local business culture makes Singapore an ideal springboard as an R&D and sales hub for European companies with innovative, high-tech environmental and water offerings looking to access regional markets.

Handouts include a brochure about the event and a list of the participating companies...

The EU Business Avenues Clean Technologies 2015 focuses on three main sectors namely: (1) Water, (2) Environment / Waste Management and (3) Renewable Energy. The participating companies for this mission specializes on the following sub-sectors:

(Source : CleanTech 2015)

According to Davide Besana, EU Trade Affairs, the EU Business Avenues Clean Technologies event is based on the Gateway program an EU-funded initiative helping European SMEs to establish long-lasting business collaborations in Japan and Korea. EU Gateway participants attend one week in-country business missions and benefit from business support services such as: coaching, logistical and financial support, among others. The resulting high returns from this program prompted the EU to pilot the EU Business Avenues in Southeast Asia.
(Source : EU Gateway)

The EU countries have much to share with the region on sustainable energy. EU ranks as the top producer in renewable energy and clean technology. First in cleantech IPOs, EU also attracted over $1b in cleantech venture capital in 2014. (Climate Week Paris, 2015) According to Dr Luca Sanfillippo, from Systea Environmental & Industrial Analytical Technologies, Italy, this trip is a mutually beneficial exchange as Singapore is advanced in its use of water treatment technologies.

Networking and sharing among the exhibitors and visiting Singapore companies...

Among the EU countries, each country has its strengths in renewable energy. For example, Spain, Greece and Italy, being located in the southern regions with ample sunshine, generate a significant portion of their energy through solar power. Sweden and Croatia tap on their hydropower for their energy needs, while Ireland and Denmark use wind energy more.

(Source : Eurostat)

It was certainly an enlightening networking session learning from the participating companies about what the world has to offer to meet our planet's increasing energy needs yet maintaining a clean and green environment.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Sources