Taiwan's energy consumption for the first nine months of the year increased 2.3 percent to 82.08 million kiloliters of oil equivalent from a year ago, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Energy yesterday.
Last month bucked the trend, however, as energy consumption dropped 0.35 percent from a year earlier to 9.48 million kiloliters of oil equivalent, as bad consumer debts affected private spending on travel and cars which in turn impacted on energy consumption in both the industrial and transportation sectors, the bureau said.
INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
In the January to September period, the industrial sector consumed 57.4 percent of all energy, followed by the transportation sector which used 15.1 percent, the residential sector which consumed 12 percent and commercial buildings 6.2 percent, the bureau's statistics showed.
The growth of energy consumption by the industrial sector was 3.2 percent in the first nine months of the year, the highest figure for all sectors over the period in question, due to strong demand from overseas, the bureau said.
Consumption in the transportation sector grew by 1.5 percent on rising pump prices and declining car sales, while that of commercial buildings increased 3 percent, and the residential sector rose by 1.1 percent, the bureau added.
Energy supply rose 3.9 percent to 104.44 million kiloliters of oil equivalent in the period.
Oil accounted for 51.4 percent of the supply, followed by coal at 31.9 percent, natural gas at 8.1 percent, nuclear energy at 7.1 percent and hydraulic power at 1.5 percent, according to the statistics.
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