The Taipei-based European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) applauded Taiwan’s recent passage of an act aimed at promoting renewable energy development, saying it was good news for Taiwan’s green energy industry.
The European trade group said in the latest edition of its bimonthly magazine Euro View that for many years delays in passing renewable energy legislation had harmed the green energy industry.
The ECCT described the passage of the act in the middle June as a significant milestone.
“This is certainly good news for Taiwan’s green energy industry, which with a combination of government support and private investment is now in a strong position to grow,” the editorial says. “It is predicted that the green energy sector could turn Taiwan into a major power in energy technology and production, as well as create green jobs.”
The Act Governing Development of Renewable Energy (再生能源發展條例), which cleared the legislative floor on June 12, lays down a legal framework to encourage investment in renewable energy production and offer incentives to local consumers to install renewable energy equipment.
In addition to permitting the state-run Taiwan Power Co (台電) to buy electricity generated by private renewable energy investors, the bill also authorizes the government to implement measures to expedite the development of renewable energy technologies.
Saying the development and application of low-polluting, renewable sources of energy could contribute to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, the ECCT added that it hoped other incentives would boost the development of local solar, wind, biomass and other green industries.
The chamber said it also hoped that the government would actively support the development of geothermal power generation through pilot projects and the mapping of Taiwan’s geothermal resources, which the ECCT said was certainly an area where European investment could help.
In addition to boosting eco-friendly industries, the act would also kickstart green building initiatives, the editorial says.
A report on energy saving drafted by the ECCT’s Energy and Environmental Protection Committee and National Taipei University of Technology said the building and construction sector presented the biggest opportunity for the successful application of energy efficiency measures, as the sector accounted for 30 percent to 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Saying that an estimated 71.4 percent of Taipei’s housing stock was at least 26 years old, compared with 38 percent across the country, the ECCT estimates that Taiwan could reduce energy use and carbon emissions by up to 30 percent by making buildings more energy efficient.
The chamber said existing technologies could be used, such as introducing policies to retrofit homes with solar panels or other energy-saving devices.
This approach helped Germany reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent between 1990 and 2005, it said.
The ECCT, which represents 370 multinational companies and 650 individual members from more than 30 countries, is the principal organization promoting European business interests in Taiwan.
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