Thanks to the government's efforts to promote renewable energy, the installation density of solar water heaters in Taiwan is now the third-highest in the world, Vice Economics Minister Hou Ho-shong (侯和雄) said yesterday.
Addressing a seminar held by the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research on the impact of soaring oil prices on the economy, Hou pointed out that the government is trying to work out plans for energy conservation and the enhancement of energy efficiency to cope with high oil prices.
These include a plan to amend the Energy Management Law (能源管理法) to regulate energy efficiency and to enact a renewable energy development law with the goal of seeing renewable energy generation reach 5,130 megawatts, or 10 percent of the total capacity generated by the country's power stations, by 2010, Hou said.
Hou noted that the government is promoting the use of various renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, solar thermal, biomass energy and geothermal energy.
The government is also planning to set up a solar-heated indoor swimming pool this year, Hou said.
The government has subsidized the installation of 74 solar power systems with a total generation capacity of 647 kilowatts, including one at the Presidential Office, and is carrying out a "solar-powered city" project in Tainan County, according to Hou.
Also, the government is expected to complete the country's first geothermal power plant in Ilan County in 2007, he said.
Meanwhile, Hou said, the government is planning to replace all the traffic lights around the country with energy-conserving light emitting diodes next year.
With international oil prices rising to as high as US$70 per barrel in August and fluctuating around US$57 per barrel at present, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Ministry of Finance have suggested that the Cabinet lower the taxes on gasoline, diesel and fuel oil by 25 percent until Dec. 31 in an effort to stabilize domestic consumer prices, he said.
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter. A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MATCH Act,” a bill designed to close gaps in restrictions on chipmaking equipment. It would also pressure foreign companies that sell equipment to Chinese chipmaking facilities to align with export curbs on US companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. The bill targets facilities operated by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings’ planned acquisition of Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations has yet to enter the formal review stage, as regulators await supplementary documents, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday. Acting FTC Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) told the legislature’s Economics Committee that although Grab submitted its application on March 27, the case has not been officially accepted because required materials remain incomplete. Once the filing is finalized, the FTC would launch a formal probe into the deal, focusing on issues such as cross-shareholding and potential restrictions on market competition, Chen told lawmakers. Grab last month announced that it would acquire
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