A seemingly unremarkable black sedan was the center of attention at yesterday's conference on the development of renewable energy.
It revved into gear surrounded by dozens of cameramen and reporters vying with each other to get the best shot.
The sedan that was the star of the conference was a flex-fuel vehicle imported from Brazil running on pure ethanol.
Brazil's government has a long-standing program to produce ethanol.
As a result, flex-fuel cars are now the mainstream in Brazil.
Winston Wong (
Wong praised the Brazilian government for their commitment to alternative fuels.
"Brazil had the foresight to start while oil was still cheap at US$10 a barrel. The program was very costly in the early days," he said.
That investment is beginning to bear fruit, however, according to Brazilian legislator Luis Piauhylino de Mello Monteiro.
Monteiro said Brazil was self-sufficient in fuel because of its ethanol-powered vehicles and was looking to ethanol exports as a moneyspinner.
In addition to recounting the Brazilian experience, Monteiro hoped to interest Taiwan in an ethanol-driven future and attract investors.
"Brazil welcomes Taiwanese investment in Brazilian ethanol production," he said.
Wong said he was confident that Taiwanese technical know-how could help lower costs of production of ethanol.
"Right now, Brazilian ethanol costs NT$4 to produce," Wong said. "But with hard work, maybe NT$3 or even NT$2.5 per liter is not an impossible goal."
Chris Toumazou, the Winston Wong Chair in Biomedical Circuits at Imperial College, London, outlined some ways in which Taiwan was well-positioned to become a leader in biofuels.
"Genetic engineering technologies can create crops with much higher yields and lower input requirements," Toumazou said. "Taiwan's technical expertise can also be useful in creating research and infrastructure which can be exported."
Taiwan's current plan to boost alternative fuel use includes compulsory recycling of used frying oil into biodiesel to begin in July and universal availability of E3 gasoline (containing three percent ethanol) starting in 2011, he said.
Daigee Shaw (
"Too much subsidization can causes inefficiencies. For instance, it takes more energy to make US corn ethanol than is contained in the ethanol once you've taken into account all the different inputs to grow the crop," he said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS