US energy experts urged the government yesterday to give up its push for nuclear energy, saying that out-of-date energy policies and conventional approaches would hinder Taiwan's competitiveness.
"An energy market liberalization strategy would be more effective than continuing construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant," said John Byrne, leader of the team of US energy experts.
The team, sponsored by the US-based W Alton Jones Foundation, said they had provided Taiwan with objective and practical information on leading energy technologies and policies.
Yesterday was the last day of the team's lobbying effort.
"We believe that such information can help societies meet their needs at the lowest cost and with maximum social and environmental benefits," Byrne said.
Byrne said that, after meeting with many of Taiwan's energy experts, he was convinced that a better strategy would be to pass a liberalization policy that opens the nation's electricity and natural gas markets to competition.
"This would create the opportunity for sustainable energy options, including energy efficiency, renewable energy and new modular, small-scale supply technologies rapidly developing around the world to meet Taiwan's near and long-term needs," Byrne said.
Fellow team member Edward Smeloff spoke of his experience in helping to close a money-losing nuclear power plant in California.
Smeloff said that the power company later adopted alternatives, such as solar energy and wind power.
"The power company ultimately had better rates, lower debts and better prospects than it could had achieved even with a smoothly running nuclear power plant," Smeloff said.
Smeloff suggested that Taiwan put nuclear energy aside and try adopting solar energy. As the market for solar energy is getting bigger, companies could be given incentives to produce solar panels, he said.
Another member of the team, Amory Lovins, who is one of the founders and CEOs of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), also felt Taiwan Power Company should abandon nuclear energy, arguing that the recent sales of used-reactors confirmed a market perception of low or even negative asset value.
Lovins wife, Hunter Lovins, a co-founder of RMI, said centralized power systems -- such as nuclear power plants -- are very dangerous. This is especially for Taiwan, a small island with frequent earthquakes and typhoons.
Local anti-nuclear activists said the US experts' visit had offered useful opinions for the Taiwan government.
"We hope to see more emphasis on key issues, such as reforming Taiwan's energy policies, at follow-up meetings conducted by the MOEA's NPP-4 Re-evaluation Committee (
Shih said he believed the ideas presented by the US team had affected some key political figures.
"Some conservative officials, who might know the global trends in energy policy, are still reluctant to accept new ideas suggested by other countries and argue that Taiwan should take actions that suit local circumstances," said Wang To-far (王塗發), a professor of economics at National Taipei University.
Such conservative views will not help Taiwan, Wang said.
The US team said this week's visit would be followed by an international conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Strategies in Taiwan slated for September.
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