■ R&D spending rising
The ratio of the nation's spending on research and development (R&D) is approaching that of industrialized nations such as Finland and Japan, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said yesterday. The ratio of Taiwan's R&D spending to the GDP rose to 2.42 percent in 2004 from 1.98 percent in 1999, it said. According to the Knowledge Economy Index published by the World Bank this year, Taiwan ranked 21st among 128 countries surveyed. Taiwan ranked 10th and 12th in innovation and information infrastructure, respectively, but only 38th in human resources. To strengthen the edge in innovation, the government will increase its spending on R&D to 3 percent of the GDP this year, the council said. The figure is comparable to that of Finland (3.49 percent) or Japan (3.15 percent).
■ Coal-fired plant plan delayed
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), which generates about 75 percent of the nation's electricity, delayed a NT$50 billion (US$1.5 billion) coal-fired plant project by two years after the government ordered a new environmental impact study.
Taipower now plans to start building the 1,600-megawatt plant in Changhua County next year, said Yu Sheng-hsiung (余勝雄), director of the company's power development department.
The plant is now scheduled to start operation in 2012, Yu said. Taiwan is responsible for about 1 percent of the world's production of so-called greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. Taipower accounts for about one-third of the carbon dioxide that Taiwan generates.
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