When the Legislative Yuan in early 2001 passed a resolution saying that the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Plant had to go on, government and opposition also reached a consensus on building a "nuclear-free homeland." To realize this ideal, the Cabinet set up the Cabinet level "Nuclear-free Homeland Advisory Committee" on April 26, 2001 and on Sept. 13 last year it set up the Cabinet level "Nuclear-free Homeland Promotion Committee." Not long ago, Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (
In 2000, the German federal government reached an agreement with nuclear power companies to eliminate nuclear power. Contents of the agreement include an unambiguous 32-year limit to the life of nuclear power plants. When the 32 years are up, plants will be decommissioned without any government subsidies. Then, last year it was clearly stated in the German Atomic Energy Act that no further permits to build nuclear power facilities would be issued. Of the 19 nuclear power plants operating in Germany, the newest was started in 1989. It is thus estimated that all commercial operations at the last nuclear power plant will cease in 2021. In other words, in 2021, Germany will achieve its goal of becoming nuclear-free.
In addition to setting clear limits to the operational service life of nuclear power plants, Germany has also adopted two important accompanying measures -- the development of renewable energy and energy conservation. To create economic incentives and reward the development of renewable energy, the German Bundestag passed the Act on Granting Priority to Renewable Energy Sources in April 2000. Germany also set targets for the development of renewable energy. By 2010, renewable energy shall make up for 10.3 percent of all energy, and 12 percent of national electricity production. By 2010, it shall make up 50 percent of national electricity production. The Energy Conservation Act was passed last year, fully subsidizing and rewarding energy conservation. The forecast target is to cut national energy consumption by 30 percent.
Germany's policy to eliminate nuclear power and the actively promoted renewable energy policy have led to a giant step forward in the development of renewable energy. In the year 2001, wind power alone saw an addition of 2,659 megawatts (mw) of electricity producing capacity -- almost as much as installed capacity at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. Total installed wind generated power capacity in Germany has now exceeded 10,000mw. This is the equivalent of the installed capacity at Taiwan's four nuclear power plants put together. It also makes up one-third the globe's wind-generated electricity and half of Europe's, making Germany the world leader in wind-generated electricity.
Germany is indeed a worthy model for Taiwan in our efforts to create a nuclear-free homeland. Study Germany's methods, and then take a look at Taiwan's actions. Not even the Statute on the Development of Renewable Energy has been passed into law.
For the sake of Taiwan's sustainable development, we call on both the ruling and opposition parties to stop their meaningless infighting and pass the statute on the development of renewable energy (
Even though advocating for a nuclear-free homeland already was made clear when the Basic Environment Law (
What's more, there are plans to install a measly 80mw model field for wind-generated power and a model solar-power system and solar-power field generating 0.5mw by the end of 2007.
There are many advantages to renewable energy. From an energy efficiency perspective, it can promote energy diversification and strengthen energy safety and reliability. From an environmental perspective, it can effectively decrease the level of environmental pollution resulting from emissions and acid rain. From an economic perspective, it can create investment opportunities, promote industrial development, and create a multitude of employment opportunities.
We believe that to build a nuclear-free homeland, we must emulate Germany, actively develop renewable energy and greatly increase future proportions of renewable energy. To establish a green energy industry, a two-pronged renewable energy program should be aggressively initiated before 2008 -- one plan to build 1,000mw wind generated power production capacity and another to build 100,000 houses with solar power generation roof-tops. This is a road that will lead us to a nuclear-free homeland.
Wang To-far is a professor of economics at National Taipei University and a member of the Taiwan Association of University Professors
Translated by Perry Svensson
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
Ursula K. le Guin in The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas proposed a thought experiment of a utopian city whose existence depended on one child held captive in a dungeon. When taken to extremes, Le Guin suggests, utilitarian logic violates some of our deepest moral intuitions. Even the greatest social goods — peace, harmony and prosperity — are not worth the sacrifice of an innocent person. Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), since leaving office, has lived an odyssey that has brought him to lows like Le Guin’s dungeon. From late 2008 to 2015 he was imprisoned, much of this
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and