Cleaner technology - Who would follow Pfizer's lead?

Tuas Power and the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Tuesday broke ground for the first trigeneration power plant in Singapore, which will produce electricity, steam and chilled water from a single integrated system.

The new generation power plant will cost 8 million Singapore dollars (about 5.1 million U.S. dollars), and it is due to be completed at the end of next year.

Unlike conventional systems of electricity generation, in which part of the energy not converted into electricity and lost in the form of heat, the trigeneration system can turn "waste heat" into steam and chilled water while producing electricity.

Being cost competitive and energy efficiency, trigeneration technology is an environmental-friendly option for companies like Pfizer which require substantive amounts of heat and power in their daily operations, Amy Khor Lean Suan, senior parliamentary secretary for environment and water resources, said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

It is estimated that the facility will help Pfizer save about 600,000 U.S. dollars, or about 8 percent of its utility bills a year.

The new plant will be built and run by TPGS Green Energy Pte Ltd, a joint venture between Tuas Power Ltd and Gas Supply Pte Ltd.

How will the trigeneration technology benefit the rest of the industries? Will other companies be as willing to embrace the technology as Pfizer? Should companies have a moral obligation to use environmental-friendly technologies?

Share your thoughts.