SINGAPORE - Avoiding threats from climate change and pollution will require Asia's booming cities to become much more efficient in their use of energy resources, delegates at a city development conference said on Thursday .
"Cities occupy 2 to 3 per cent of our planet's surface, yet they consume 70 per cent of all energy," said Mr Soren Kvorning, President for Asia Pacific at Danfoss, a Danish engineering firm with a strong focus on Asia. "We can no longer stand by and watch. Electric cars and buses are an attractive option, and cities can also go fully electric in ports," Mr Kvorning said.
To improve efficiency, Mr Ang Kian Seng, Director for Environmental Sustainability at Singapore's Building and Construction Authority, said the government had last year launched a"super low energy programme" to cut emissions as far as possible. One of the biggest problems is the scope of the problems, the delegates said, with Asian cities - several of which have populations of over 20 million - struggling to provide enough housing, electricity, food and infrastructure.