An increasing number of entrepreneurs in Singapore are breaking out of the norm and looking to ecological sustainability to create solutions to benefit society and, at the same time, try to turn a profit.
For Mr Allan Lim, his breakout moment happened six years ago when he made a shift, from civil engineer, to eco entrepreneur.
“It may sound altruistic, but I have always wanted to change the world, change the way we do things, and be able to positively influence our environment. So naturally when I spoke with my co-founders about this, we had decided that biodiesel could be a solution to clean energy,” said Mr Lim.
Mr Lim is one of the founders and chief executive director of Alpha Biofuels, a company that converts waste cooking oil to fuel based on the principle that food itself should not be used as fuel.
Alpha Biofuels was set up as a business entity in 2008, but getting there was not easy. “At that time converting waste cooking oil to biodiesel was a very novel idea. It was hard to get funding even from our own university because we were too low-tech. In the end we got support from ITE College East,” Mr Lim recalls.
Alpha Biofuels was incubated in that college lab. At the time, it was a two-man operation and its founders poured in their own money to make low-cost biodiesel technology work. Mr Lim has fond memories of this period. “We would pester hawkers to give us their waste cooking oil. During this time in ITE East, we made 50 litres of biodiesel every week, which was enough to power a diesel engine car for a week. We hardly made any money, but it hit us that we had found a good source of sustainable energy.”
As its technology grew more sophisticated, so did the company. Subsequently, Alpha Biofuels received support from SPRING Singapore which resulted in a more advanced prototype.
The company’s first customer was in Cambodia, where it built its first biodiesel machine for the Angkor Hospital for Children. “Although it was a very early version of our technology, we were very proud of it,” said Mr Lim.
Under the wing of angel investors, Alpha Biofuels pursued the idea of launching Singapore’s first waste-to-biodiesel plant.
Alpha Biofuels said that, during its growth period, it had to not only grapple with the recession, but also business owners who would rather sell their used cooking oil to the highest bidder with no regard for what the waste cooking oil was to be used for eventually. “The lack of government policies and industrial support also did not help with our task. This put us up against the seemingly insurmountable task of educating Singapore about waste to clean energy,” said Mr Lim.
The company then had the opportunity to develop the world’s first building integrated biodiesel system. This project was created for Asia Square Tower, the first time that biodiesel was converted on-site during the building’s construction to feed the diesel needs. Mr Lim added that “this same system will continue to power the building and its occupants after its completion demonstrating urban metabolism”.
Today, the company’s focus has moved from the mass production of biodiesel to the development of clean energy technology from urban waste, with the aim of seamlessly integrating these technologies into the urban landscape.
With a team of 12, Alpha Biofuels is starting to see revenue increase. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tianjin Eco-city to develop innovative waste-to-energy projects, and it is rapidly advancing in Asia, Africa and South America, as the developing cities look for a sustainable solution to manage growing waste.
