The "No Nuke Asia Forum 2005" continued yesterday in Taipei, with participants from around the world exchanging opinions on the development of renewable energy and the anti-nuclear campaigns in their countries.
The forum, which began last Thursday and will run until Wednesday and was organized by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU), has attracted representatives of environmental protection groups from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Russia and the US.
The participants visited several nuclear plants Friday and had talks with residents near the plants.
TEPU Chairman Shih Shin-min (施信民) noted that the Cabinet convened a national energy conference in 1998, setting a goal that renewable energy should account for 1 percent to 3 percent of the country's total energy capacity. At that time, the government did not have the idea of promoting a nuclear-free country.
In 2003, the government began anti-nuclear campaigns, setting its new goal in which renewable energy should account for 10 percent of the total by 2010.
Expressing hope that the government can fulfill its promise, Shih complained that even the 10 percent goal will still lag behind that of advanced countries.
Citing the example of Denmark, which has efficiently developed renewable energy such as hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass power, Shih noted that the European country's renewable energy accounts for 40 percent of its total.
With the Kyoto Protocol taking effect in February, which aims to limit the global emission of greenhouse gases, the EU hopes that renewable energy can account for 22 percent of each country's total by 2020.
However, Taiwan can only reach 12 percent goal by that time, Shih added.
According to Shih, Taiwan has been promoting hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power, but with low efficiency.
He urged the government and the people to show more concern for the environment and to focus on renewable energy.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS