Taiwan has the potential to become a global leader in renewable energy development if it succeeds in energy transformation, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told an international symposium in Taipei yesterday.
The International Symposium on Sustainability Science was held by the Academia Sinica and attended by about 350 academics from the US, Japan, Australia and other countries.
The symposium aims to raise international awareness about sustainability and air pollution; to promote international collaboration; and bring international views and experiences to local communities, Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said.
Photo: CNA
In her opening speech, Tsai quoted former US president Barack Obama as saying at the UN Climate Summit in 2014: “We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.”
Although Taiwan is not a UN member, it endeavors to contribute to sustainable development in its region and in the world, she said.
As the government plans to generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025, it is working to develop the sector by attracting domestic and foreign investments, and by promoting the Executive Yuan’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, she said.
“One of the world’s best wind farm sites is off Changhua County,” Tsai said.
In the first panel discussion, International Council for Science president Gordon McBean asked how Taiwan plans to achieve its renewable energy generation goal.
“It is a difficult goal,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Yang Wei-fu (楊偉甫) said, adding that the ministry is working to achieve the goal by promoting a two-year photovoltaic power project and a four-year offshore wind power project.
Speaking about the nation’s decarbonization goal, Yang said the ministry plans to improve coal-burning facilities at state-run utilities, such as Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and CPC Corp, Taiwan.
Taipower has budgeted NT$9 billion (US$297.6 million) to install desulfurization facilities at its coal-fired and gas-fired power plants, Yang said, adding that the ministry is working closely with the Environmental Protection Administration to curb air pollution.
As for Vice President Chen Chien-jen’s (陳建仁) statement on Saturday that the nation can phase out coal-fired power plants by 2050, Yang said it is “a vision” without a concrete plan at present.
To phase out coal-fired power plants, the nation must have sufficient and diversified sources of energy, especially when the transportation and storage of natural gas have certain risks, he said.
In related news, the National Applied Research Laboratories is today to establish a “green” energy research alliance in Tainan in a bid to integrate industrial and academic resources to promote renewable energy development in the planned Shalun Green Energy Science City.
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
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
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
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