The one-sentence truth: Energy policy is a three-way balancing problem among reliability, affordability and environmental impact.
Core vocabulary
Energy security, decarbonisation, renewable energy, intermittency, electrification, transition cost, grid reliability, energy efficiency, affordability, diversification.
Energy security
Energy security concerns reliable access at manageable cost. A source can be low-carbon yet create strategic dependence if supply is concentrated.
Intermittency
Some renewable sources vary with weather and time. Storage, transmission, flexible demand and complementary generation can mitigate this constraint.
Transition costs
Cleaner systems require capital, infrastructure and adjustment. Costs may be temporary but concentrated, which makes distribution politically important.
Electrification
Electrification can reduce direct fossil-fuel use in transport and buildings, but benefits depend on how electricity itself is generated.
Example sentence
“A rapid green transition is most credible when decarbonisation does not undermine energy reliability, because public support can erode if environmental gains are associated with persistent affordability or security costs.”
Singapore application
Land constraints, import dependence, dense infrastructure and regional interconnection make Singapore a useful context for analysing energy trade-offs.
Continue the JC2 GP vocabulary system
Return to General Paper Vocabulary Year 2 (JC2) and Vocabulary for Junior College (JC1–JC2).
Final thought
The green transition succeeds when cleaner energy becomes not merely possible, but reliable enough and affordable enough to become ordinary.