By Ling Sing Lin
Horse Dung in New York
As horses were the main mode of transport then, there was the unsolvable problem of horse dung in the streets of New York in the late 1800s. The automobile was built in the early 1900s, and hey presto! the problem of horse dung was no more! But wait! Aren’t we now grappling with the air pollution problem today, partly from petrol guzzling cars?
Gasoline Cars
Internal combustion engines in cars emit higher levels of green house gases, contributing to air pollution and climate change. So we now need to solve this problem.
Singapore’s Longer Term Plan for Vehicles
The plan is to phase out the sales of internal combustion engine cars by 2030. All new car registrations in Singapore will have to be cleaner-energy models from 2030 ie only electric vehicles (EV), hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell cars will be registered. By 2040, Singapore intends to phase out internal combustion engine cars, including taxis and buses.
Disadvantage of EVs
These include range anxiety (can travel shorter distance than gas powered cars), taking longer time to charge the car, and higher upfront cost.
Moreover, the environmental impact of lithium-ion battery packs is far from negligible. The challenges include extraction and manufacturing processes of producing EV batteries. The mining of lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper for EVs requires a huge amount of water, and can produce toxic waste. Fossil fuels are used in the manufacturing process to heat the raw minerals to very high temperatures. In fact, building an EV can produce 80% more emissions than building a comparable gas powered car. The eventual disposal of EV batteries also faces real environmental challenges.
Hence, my view is that we should not rely solely on EVs, but have a mix of engine types. Of course various issues should be addressed, solutions are not that simple or straightforward.
Mumbai Slum’s Redevelopment
This article in Straits Times 29 May 2024 is about India’s biggest slum. It has over 1 million people packed into 239 hectares (3 times the size of Singapore Botanical Gardens).. On the face of it, it is great news for the slum dwellers. In return they get free housing at zero cost to them. The site of this slum, (you guessed it!) is a real estate gold mine in the centre of Mumbai, the obvious reason for the wealthy developer’s apparent generosity. Despite this, some residents find the compensation inadequate. This is because the slum has an active informal economy where many small scale businesses flourish, such as leather goods, garments, pottery, recycling, and even poppadoms. Livelihoods may be impacted if the slum is demolished. Hence the compensation offered has been sniffed at.
Take Home Message
Problems have to be addressed and solutions found to solve them. However other problems may arise with these solutions. The strategy is to preempt potential problems and address them. This process may have to be repeated. Otherwise there can never be improvements, developments and progress, and deterioration sets in.
lingsinglin
Dr Ling Sing Lin is a medical doctor by training. She worked in MOH HQ for many years, in policy making and administrative positions, until her retirement.
