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Singapore Moving to Dominate the Water Biz
There's wind power (China & Germany in the lead), geothermal (Iceland in the lead), Ocean wave power (Britain, Australia & Scotland in the lead), solar power (China & Germany leading) ... WAIT! Where's the U.S.A. in this renewable energy list?
In what is clearly a big part of the future of the world energy budget, we are slow getting off the starting line. We invent and innovate and engineer really well, but when it comes to actually manufacturing in this field, we simply are not living up to our own (and the world's) expectations.
Then there's WATER. Some say it will soon be more valuable than oil. Potable water is already one of the great shortages in the world. Even in rich America, fresh water is in precipitous decline. So another big part of the future is processing water. "Treating" water: Cleaning it up, desalinizing it, recycling it. Again, the leading countries in this vital field are NOT the U.S.A. France and England have been the traditional leaders. And now, Singapore - of all places - is leaping ahead.
Bloomberg.com has a piece telling how this is happening. Quoting from the article: "In the past three years, the city-state’s companies have won over 100 projects in more than 15 countries, valued at $5.6 billion, according to the Public Utilities Board of Singapore."
How, Lord, how? Another quote: "While Paris-based Veolia Environnement and Compagnie de Suez and London’s Thames Water Holdings have worked on water technologies for decades, it is government support that gives Singapore’s industry an edge, said Melvin Leong, a Kuala Lumpur- based consultant at Frost & Sullivan."
The saddest part of this "socialist" tale is that General Electric (that's right, OUR G.E.) has signed on as a major investor in the Singapore water projects, "... lured by the (Singapore) government’s commitment to water treatment technology..."
Lots of jobs for this ... in Singapore.
Picture credit
There's wind power (China & Germany in the lead), geothermal (Iceland in the lead), Ocean wave power (Britain, Australia & Scotland in the lead), solar power (China & Germany leading) ... WAIT! Where's the U.S.A. in this renewable energy list?
In what is clearly a big part of the future of the world energy budget, we are slow getting off the starting line. We invent and innovate and engineer really well, but when it comes to actually manufacturing in this field, we simply are not living up to our own (and the world's) expectations.
Then there's WATER. Some say it will soon be more valuable than oil. Potable water is already one of the great shortages in the world. Even in rich America, fresh water is in precipitous decline. So another big part of the future is processing water. "Treating" water: Cleaning it up, desalinizing it, recycling it. Again, the leading countries in this vital field are NOT the U.S.A. France and England have been the traditional leaders. And now, Singapore - of all places - is leaping ahead.
Bloomberg.com has a piece telling how this is happening. Quoting from the article: "In the past three years, the city-state’s companies have won over 100 projects in more than 15 countries, valued at $5.6 billion, according to the Public Utilities Board of Singapore."
How, Lord, how? Another quote: "While Paris-based Veolia Environnement and Compagnie de Suez and London’s Thames Water Holdings have worked on water technologies for decades, it is government support that gives Singapore’s industry an edge, said Melvin Leong, a Kuala Lumpur- based consultant at Frost & Sullivan."
The saddest part of this "socialist" tale is that General Electric (that's right, OUR G.E.) has signed on as a major investor in the Singapore water projects, "... lured by the (Singapore) government’s commitment to water treatment technology..."
Lots of jobs for this ... in Singapore.
Picture credit
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