Taiwan, which relies heavily on fossil fuels, is an ideal place for the promotion of renewable energy because of its abundant resources, and Germany's experience might be useful, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday.
The symposium entitled "Energy for the Future" was held yesterday in Taipei with both Taiwanese and German experts taking part.
Before giving a speech at the opening ceremony, Lu took a ride in a German-designed zero-emission vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Fuel cells have been used on spacecraft for many years to power electrical equipment.
In her speech, Lu said that government and business, should work to make such low-emission vehicles available to the public as soon as possible.
"Most of you must have been surprised by the performance of fuel cell or solar energy displayed outside the conference room," Lu said during her speech. "Such application of energy technologies in the sector of transportation will not only mitigate air pollution, but also lift the dependence on imported oil."
Lu also said that environmentally-friendly industries will receive priority from the government in development funding. To promote environmentally-friendly technology, abundant financial support will be available for carrying out a well-designed scheme and integrating government agencies, business and research organizations.
Lu said that Taiwan, which imports more than 97 percent of its energy needs, faces challenges related to the high price of oil, and moves should be made to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
"Taiwan fortunately is full of sunshine throughout the year. In addition, the sea, wind and geothermal energy makes the country an ideal place for the use of renewable energy."
In order to form legal bases for the promotion of renewable energy, several laws have been drafted, Lu said.
"The government aims to turn Taiwan into a nuclear-free country. Since 2003, NT$3 billion has been given yearly for renewable energy development. We hope to see applications in our daily life soon," Lu said.
Lu also said that Germany is a good example for Taiwan to emulate because it has used renewable energy for more two decades and its wind power capacity is the best in the world.
The vice president also said that Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), last year visited Germany to discuss environmental issues with German Economics and Labor Minister Wolfgang Clement.
"Both sides reached an agreement to work on future collaboration of energy-related issues, such as increasing energy efficiency and promoting renewable energy," Lu said.
Lu also said that Taiwan is eager to share responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the Cabinet has set the stage for a "nuclear-free homeland" policy, which implies that nuclear energy would not be regarded as an alternative for emissions reduction.
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching