Singapore Energy Conference 2006 : Summary Report

Energy is a very basic need for the economy and also for civilization. Nothing moves and no machine operates without an energy source, whether it is manpower, animal power, natural (wind, water, solar) or fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas, bio-mass) or scientific/technological (nuclear, ion-drive, fusion). When an adversary cuts off energy supplies, this is clearly a hostile act, and is recognized as such. Thus strategists understood why Imperial Japan reacted in military terms to the U.S. action in imposing an oil embargo on Tokyo. This is also the reason why India and China today are concerned about the security of energy supplies, needed for their booming economies. Energy security has thus moved to the top of the international and national agendas. It is therefore very timely that ISEAS and three government agencies have cooperated to organize and launch the Singapore Energy Conference (SEC). This Summary Report of the Inaugural SEC, held on 8 and 9 November 2006, serves to briefly record the main points of the various presentations and discussions by several energy experts on important energy issues and trends. It signals the commitment by the Government of Singapore to raise awareness and understanding of energy issues amongst policy-makers and others who need to know and understand such issues.