The National Environment Agency is studying the feasibility of making fuel economy labelling mandatory for passenger cars.

This is part of the measures to make Singapore more energy efficient.

'With fuel labelling, motorists will be able to make a more informed choice, if information on the fuel consumption of various models of cars is made available,' said Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy and Eco-minds award ceremony, he said for those who still prefer to drive, the authorities will try to convince them of the merits of 'green motoring' and fuel efficiency.

On its part, the Land Transport Authority is targeting to raise the proportion of public transport users during the morning peak hours from the current 63 per cent to over 70 per cent in the next 10 to15 years.

To achieve this, the rail transit system coverage will be expanded to 215 km by 2018 - about 56 per cent more than it is today, said Dr Yaacob.

Another measure to improve energy efficiency is requiring all new buildings and existing ones with a gross floor area of more than 2,000 square metres to meet the Green Mark certified standards.

This means that these buildings would have to be designed or redesigned to be more energy efficient.

The government has introduced mandatory energy labelling for all household air-conditioners and refrigerators sold in Singapore.

This move, said Dr Yaacob, will enable households to purchase more energy efficient home appliances, as electricity consumption in Singapore has risen 32 per cent over the last 10 years even though the population has grown by only 18 per cent.

In the power generation sector, the plan is to increase the use of more efficient cogeneration and trigeneration technologies.

Dr Yaacob said the greenhouse gas emissions in Singapore are mainly from the release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels in industries and to generate electricity.

'Energy is, however, essential to almost every aspect of our lives. We need energy to sustain a strong manufacturing and service industry to support economic growth. Our actions to address climate change must not have an adverse impact on our economic growth,' he said.

Moving forward, the Energy Efficiency Programme Office, a multi-agency taskforce set up in May, will draw up a long-term plan that integrates government efforts to improve energy efficiency, added the minister.