President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday the government is aiming to pursue diversity in the nation’s energy supply during an inspection visit to the Chang-Kong Wind Power Station in Changhua County.
During the visit, Ma reiterated his administration’s support for wind energy amid the ongoing dispute over the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao Dictrict (貢寮).
Accompanied by Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, Ma visited the wind power station and discussed wind energy with business groups at a forum.
The visit was originally scheduled for the day of the fifth anniversary of Ma’s inauguration on May 20, but was delayed due to heavy rain.
Ma said building a nuclear-free homeland is a goal of the Basic Environment Act (環境基本法), and has promised to achieve this goal while keeping electricity prices at an acceptable level and not disrupting power supplies.
As part of reducing the nation’s dependence on nuclear power, Ma said the government is to put greater emphasis on the development of renewable sources of energy, including wind power and solar power.
“Renewable energy has its limitations and the government cannot put all its eggs in the same basket. We must develop different sources of energy, otherwise an energy crisis could result in a serious national security issue,” he said.
Karl-Eugen Feifel, chairman of InfraVest Wind Power, the largest investor in wind power in Taiwan, took the occasion to promote the development of wind power in the nation, and challenged the Ma administration to allow private energy companies to sell electricity directly to consumers as an incentive to attract more private investment.
He complained that the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) had refused to allow his company to sell its energy to Google Inc, which has established factories in Changbin Industrial Zone, and said the Ma administration should abandon the view that renewable energy can only provide auxiliary supplies of electricity.
Ma said the government pays great attention to the development of wind power, but it cannot ignore opposition from local residents, who are concerned about noise and other impacts from the power station.
“As with all sources of energy, wind power has its advantages and limitations,” Ma said.
“We need different sources of energy regardless of whether the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is completed. Therefore, the government will focus more efforts on the development of renewable energies,” he added.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS