By Jaime Lee

A MULTI-million-dollar grant scheme to help industrial companies offset their investments in energy efficient equipment is expected to be launched next month, a senior executive at the National Environment Agency (NEA) said yesterday.

'The total amount is quite significant,' said NEA chief executive Lee Yuen Hee, adding that this would target investments in new technology.

He said that it would 'definitely be larger' than some current grants such as the $6 million grant to certify professionals in energy management but declined to give the grant size.

He also announced that all cars sold in Singapore must have labels that show the vehicles' fuel consumption and carbon emissions from April next year.

'Currently, we do have a voluntary scheme,' Mr Lee told reporters, adding that about 20 per cent of carmakers have labels for their cars.

He added that having such information on car brochures is not enough.

'It's all hidden in the fine print. It's not really transparent,' he said, adding that having labels would standardise the way information is presented to the buyers.

Mr Lee said that feedback from the distributors was positive. 'They have been quite supportive,' he said.

This would have little impact on sales, said Paul Ng, general manager of Vertex Automobile, which distributes Chery cars from China. 'We're only making the information more visible to consumers,' he said.

The penalties for not having such fuel labels are being drafted and would be 'similar in scope' to the mandatory labels of electrical appliances such as refrigerators and air-conditioners, said Mr Lee.

Since January this year, all household appliance suppliers must indicate the energy efficiency of their products. Under the Environmental Protection and Management Act, suppliers who do not provide labels can be fined up to $2,000.

NEA expects to reduce household electricity consumption by at least 10 per cent over a five-year period through a campaign launched in April this year.

The average monthly consumption fell 4 per cent from May to August, compared with the same period a year ago.

This article was first published in The Business Times on October 18, 2008.