Reusable energy ratio to be raised: Lu

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that the government is planning to raise the ratio of reusable energy generation to 10 percent of total power generation by 2010.

Lu made the remarks while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2005 International Association for Energy Economics, which was attended by more than 500 government officials and experts from 32 countries.

It is the first time Taiwan has sponsored the international meeting, whose theme is "Globalization of Energy: Markets, Technology and Sustainability."

The meeting, to run through tomorrow, is chaired by Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), chairman of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research.

The vice president noted that the Kyoto Protocol went into effect Feb. 16 to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases.

Although Taiwan is not a signatory of the protocol, it has to address the issue seriously as one of the members of the global village, Lu said.

As Taiwan currently relies on imported fuel for up to 97 percent of its energy needs, the government's top energy strategy will be to develop reusable energy, she said. To learn more about the effects on various sectors of the Kyoto Protocol and other environmental protection pacts, as well as to contribute more to international energy, Lu said a national energy conference will be held June 20-21.

The conference will be attended by business and environmental groups as well as think tanks and related government officials, who will discuss related strategies to deal with the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions for use as a reference by the government in the formulation of policy concerning cutting reliance on energy imports and promoting energy independence.