The nation is likely to phase out coal-fired power plants by 2050, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) told an environmental forum in Taipei yesterday, adding that the coal-fired facilities should be refined to reduce air pollution before then.
The forum was held at National Taiwan University by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the union’s establishment.
Phasing out coal-fired power plants has become the international community’s consensus and many countries, such as France and Finland, have announced their intentions to stop using coal-fired power, Chen said in his opening remarks at the forum.
France plans to shut down all its coal-fired power plants by 2023, while Finland is to ban the use of coal in energy production by 2030.
Unlike those two countries, which have other forms of energy, such as hydraulic and nuclear power, Taiwan could hardly do without coal-fired power in the short term, he said.
Nonetheless, Taiwan can learn from Germany, which also generates about 45 percent of its electricity from coal, and stop using coal-fired power by 2050, he said.
One of the union’s landmark achievements is preventing the commissioning of the Fourth Nuclear Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) in 2015, union member Tung Chien-hung (董建宏) said.
For the union’s members, the next objective is to realize the goal of a “nuclear-free homeland by 2025,” but they have to know that building more power plants is not the best way to do that, Tung said.
By contrast, former Tainan County commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) suggested that people join forces to build more renewable energy utilities and change the nation’s centralized electricity industry.
Union members should also embrace technology to make environmental reforms more efficient while transforming themselves from street protesters to a vanguard of the “knowledge economy,” Su said.
Before 2000, when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was for decades the ruling party, environmental activists could draw media attention and formulate issues simply by pointing their fingers at KMT officials, former Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan chairman Chu Tseng-hung (朱增宏) said.
However, after three handovers of political power, activists should come up with a different strategy and discourse to promote reforms, especially in the “post-truth” era, when reality and truth are bendable, he said.
Although the Democratic Progressive Party administration is often willing to discuss environmental issues with non-governmental activists, what solutions can be expected is another question, Chu said.
Additional reporting by CNA
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
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,
RSS