Energy conservation efforts and power-saving industries will become a key source of economic growth and create jobs, the Council for Economic Planning and Development believes.
The NT$7.1 billion (US$221.8 million) invested last year in research and development of alternative energy technology and other green equipment is expected to generate NT$192 billion in industrial production value, council said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The council also projected the industrial output value of the nation's green industries such as power conservation, solar opto-electricity and biofuels, would expand 22.2 percent annually and reach NT$640 billion by 2015.
In a separate report, the council projected that the percentage of power generated from renewable resources nationwide would increase from 4.4 percent in 2005 to 7.2 percent by 2015.
However, the council hopes to speed up the process by offering policy incentives and government-funded investment.
That could boost the percentage of power from renewable resources to 10 percent by 2010, the council said.
The council also said that developments in solar optoelectrical technology would bolster the sector, which should generate NT$7 billion in production value by 2010. At the same time, as traffic lights across the country are replaced with energy-saving light-emitting-diodes, power consumption is expected to drop 3 percent each year, with the replacements complete by 2010.
To achieve goals set in the Kyoto Protocol, Taiwan aims to cut carbon-dioxide emissions to 7,100 tonnes below their 2005 level at a pace of 1.5 percent annually.
Companies producing energy-saving technology and products created 5.3 million new jobs in the US in 2005, the council said, adding that renewable energy industries and energy-saving engineering would become a key driver in Taiwan's economy.
One million new jobs will be created in increasing energy efficiency by 20 percent, it said, citing European Council statistics.
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