Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim announced in Parliament Tuesday several programs to help conserve energy and reduce environmental pollution, especially the emission of green house gas.

A "10-liter Challenge" program aiming to reduce a person's daily water consumption by 10 liters will be launched this year.

Under the program, a web portal will be established to teach people how to save 10 liters of water a day while volunteers will visit households to promote water conservation habits and help them install water saving devices.

The installation of dual-flush cisterns in all new and upgraded buildings will be compulsory soon. Besides, a voluntary water efficiency labeling scheme for water fittings and appliances will be put in place by the end of this year, according to the minister.

"It will be mandatory for all air-conditioners and refrigerators to carry energy efficiency labels from mid-2007," said Ibrahim. Only 27 percent of air-conditioner models and 20 percent of refrigerator models available in local market have been labeled under the voluntary energy labeling scheme as of January this year.

"We will also study the possibility of expanding the labeling scheme to include other energy-intensive appliances such as clothes driers, dishwashers and water heaters," he added.

Apart from encouraging people to replace diesel vehicles with compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, Singapore also plans to roll out a public campaign next month to educate people on the link between energy use and climate change.

Source: Xinhua