Singapore has launched a S$143 million ($112 million) funding initiative to speed up the development and commercialization of low-carbon technologies for industry.
In a statement on Friday, the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) said the fund includes up to S$100 million set aside for company-led research and development.
This is the largest single funding initiative dedicated to industrial decarbonization research to date. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong announced it at the inaugural Singapore Industry Decarbonisation Forum 2026, alongside new partnerships with climate and clean-energy investors.
Industry, including manufacturing, accounts for nearly two-thirds of Singapore’s emissions, the government said. Emissions from energy-intensive activities such as petrochemicals, refining, and fuel combustion, are difficult to cut.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s limited land and resources restrict the deployment of some solutions at scale. Targeted research is needed to adapt technologies to Singapore’s conditions, the government added.
The S$143 million Industry Decarbonisation Funding Initiative, led by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Advanced Energy and Decarbonisation Office (AEDO), will fund research into three areas.
The first is carbon capture, to develop cost-effective ways to capture carbon dioxide from low- and mid-concentration streams.
The second is carbon utilization, converting captured carbon dioxide into chemicals and other products, drawing on Singapore’s energy and chemicals ecosystem.
The third covers other emerging technologies, including carbon storage, electrification of industrial heating, and reducing non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases from industrial processes such as semiconductor manufacturing.
The initiative is part of the S$800 million Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 Decarbonisation Grand Challenge. Low-carbon hydrogen research will continue under the broader challenge, focusing on lowering the cost and land needs of hydrogen use.
The government said the initiative will feed promising technologies into scale-up programs, including the Low-Carbon Technology Translational Testbed and the Singapore Pilots for Energy and Enterprise Decarbonisation program.
Up to S$100 million of the initiative is set aside for a new Decarbonisation Research for Industry, Ventures and Enterprise (DRIVE) program. Under DRIVE, companies, including start-ups and technology providers, can propose and design research projects with Singapore’s public research institutions. The government will co-fund up to 75 percent of qualifying project costs.
Jermaine Loy, managing director of EDB, said decarbonization is essential to keeping Singapore’s manufacturing competitive. The initiative can bring companies and researchers together to tackle industrial challenges.
The government also announced partnerships that EDB and AEDO have set up with Extantia, Main Sequence and the Rocky Mountain Institute. These join existing collaborations with Breakthrough Energy, Energy Impact Partners, SG Growth Capital, and Temasek. The partners will share views on emerging technologies and industry needs, and recommend companies for Singapore’s decarbonization initiatives.
On the same day, TotalEnergies signed a memorandum of understanding with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)’s Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment to explore research on carbon utilization technologies.
AEDO has also awarded S$65 million under its Low Carbon Energy Research Scale-up Grant to five projects that delivered promising results under an earlier program. The teams will receive follow-on funding to scale their technologies in industrial settings.
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