Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) yesterday said that scrapping nuclear power would not only make carbon reduction goals nearly impossible to achieve, but also risked increasing carbon emissions.
Reporting on the EPA’s efforts to establish a low-carbon sustainable homeland at the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, Shen was repeatedly asked to discuss the impact of abolishing nuclear power and for his opinion on nuclear power policies.
“Of course everyone would be very happy if we could abolish nuclear power immediately, but from the perspective of achieving carbon reduction goals, it is an impossible task,” he said, adding that the immediate abolition of nuclear power and the generation of all power from sustainable energy are both “romantic ideals.”
Taiwan’s goal and commitment to the world is to reduce carbon emissions to the level of 2005 by 2020 and the level of 2000 by 2025, which would necessitate a reduction in carbon emissions of about 80 million tonnes, he said.
If the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant does not go into operation and is replaced with coal-fired power plants, total emissions would need to be cut by about 97 million tonnes, he said, adding that even if natural gas power plants were opened there would still be an increase in carbon emissions of about 12 million tonnes and costs would be higher than for coal-powered plants.
He said that while wind power and solar power are said to be environmentally friendly, sustainable energy sources and good alternatives to nuclear or fossil fuel power, more investment in facilities would be needed to increase the stability of wind power transmission and storage, and the cost of solar power is relatively high.
Claiming to have no preset stance for or against nuclear power, Shen said: “From a scientific point of view, the risks from climate change are more serious than from nuclear power. Climate change is hard to control, but nuclear power can be controlled to an extent.”
He said the issues of the abolition of nuclear power plants and carbon reduction can be decided by whether people are willing to reduce electricity consumption, and that various risks should be compared and discussed rationally before the referendum takes place.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS