Solar panels can produce 300 times more toxic waste per unit of electricity generated than nuclear reactors, Michael Shellenberger, president of the US-based group Environmental Progress, told a forum in Taipei yesterday, while presenting an open letter to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
The forum was held by Climate Vanguards and the Chung Hwa Nuclear Society at National Taiwan University.
There used to be a tug-of-war between pro and anti-nuclear groups, but the anti-nuclear camp has gained favor ever since the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster in Japan, former Environmental Protection Administration minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) said in the first panel discussion with Shellenberger.
Debates about energy policy have become ideological rather than scientific, Wei said, adding that nuclear power is the best option for the nation’s transformation from a “brown” economy bolstered by fossil fuels to a “green” economy.
Shellenberger questioned the legitimacy of the claim of causation between the disaster and the nation’s decision to phase out nuclear power.
Even though thousands of people died in the earthquake, no deaths were directly caused by radiation leaks, Shellenberger said.
Presenting an open letter to Tsai, Shellenberger said that the nation’s phase-out of nuclear power is based on misinformation.
Replacing nuclear with fossil fuels can threaten public health, given that Taiwanese are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution, he said.
Natural gas is also not a good substitute for nuclear sources, considering the heavy casualties of the gas explosions in Kaohsiung in 2014, he said.
As for development of renewables, the nation would need to build 617 solar farms as large as its biggest proposed farm at a cost of US$71 billion just to replace its nuclear reactors, he said, adding that few people consider disposal of solar panels.
He advised Tsai’s administration to hold a national referendum on the future of nuclear energy, just as South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a “citizens’ jury,” which last week voted to resume construction of two nuclear plants.
Following a similar vein, physicist and pro-nuclear activist Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修) said that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party should tell people the real cost of phasing out nuclear power by revealing the facts.
While the nation hopes to generate 50 percent of electricity from natural gas, 20 percent from renewable sources and 30 percent from coal by 2025, gas-fired power and renewable production are costly and risky, he said.
Nuclear power and renewables should coexist and supplement each other, or the nation will face more power outages and higher electricity prices, he said.
Taiwanese should have fully understood the merits and defects of different energy sources before deciding to phase out nuclear energy, Huang added.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS