The government should repeal subsidies for the use of renewable energy sources to avoid distorting the energy market, while investing in energy-saving and environmentally friendly industries to promote saving energy and carbon emissions reductions, an economist said yesterday.
“Distorting the energy market refers to government control of energy prices,” Daigee Shaw (蕭代基), president of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究院), said during a two-day “green” energy forum.
The international forum, organized by the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), brought together environmentalists from Taiwan, the rest of Asia, Europe and the US to discuss energy saving and carbon emissions reductions.
“The government should safeguard the energy market mechanism, which signals the true costs of an activity, by canceling any price ceiling to help reflect the true internal costs of energy consumption,” Shaw said.
He said the government should “internalize external costs” by imposing “green” energy taxes, saying that revenues from the environmental taxes could be used to “finance reductions in existing revenue-raising taxes.”
Since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) assumed office in May 2008, the government has launched a four-year NT$145.2 billion (US$4.54 billion) program to cut carbon emissions, CEPD vice chairman Hu Chung-ying (胡仲英) told the forum.
The Renewable Energy Act (再生能源發展條例) was enacted last June as part of the government’s efforts to encourage the private sector and the public to enhance energy efficiency and management, he said.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
Two of Taiwan’s international carriers, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), have retained the five-star airline rating awarded by international airline review organization Skytrax. Starlux was awarded the distinction for a second consecutive year, while EVA Air received it for the 11th straight year, Skytrax said in statements released yesterday and on Thursday last week, respectively. The five-star rating is considered one of the airline industry's highest honors and is awarded following professional audits of airline product and frontline service standards, Skytrax said. The ratings are based on in-depth assessments using unified global quality standards rather than customer review scores
RSS