By Ren Kejia
Environmental sustainability emerged as the top energy priority for youths at the In Dialogue with Youth session at SIEW this morning. This was followed by economic competitiveness and energy security.
Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, said it was “encouraging” that today’s youths are concerned about environmental sustainability.
Renewable energy, mainly solar, has been making progress in Singapore but there are constraints, including Singapore’s limited land area and intermittency issues that affect reliability of supply.
Trade-offs are necessary to balance the energy trilemma, but improvements in technology are making these “less stark over time”, said Ms Sim as she urged youths to contribute towards driving technological change in the energy sector.
The future of the sector is dynamic and offers strong growth opportunities. Youths interested in an energy career should consider their value proposition and recognise that different skill sets are needed over time to remain competitive, said Ms Liu Xiao Wei, VP of External Relations, Shell APAC.
Mr Samuel Tan, Chief Digital Officer, SP Group, added that youths can look forward to a meaningful career in a growing industry, with opportunities to solve interesting problems.
In a sector like energy, which has a significant impact on the world and directly on the quality of life, the work can bring a lot of meaning. Ms Liu called on youths to use their “passion, knowledge and ability to innovate to change the world for the better.
“There is much to work for, such as providing energy access to the 1.2 billion people who do not have it.”