As Taiwan grows more enthusiastic over the development of renewable energy, a researcher is suggesting that the government put the brakes on traveling in that direction before more energy is wasted.
"Many studies have found that the energy devoted to produce renewable energy and biofuel has exceeded output energy," Daigee Shaw (蕭代基), president of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中經院), said at a press conference yesterday.
More energy is required to produce a solar cell than the cell can generate in its lifetime, Shaw said.
Attacking enthusiasm for cure-all renewable energy, Shaw said pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are still being generated during production of green energy.
Limited and unstable supplies of renewable energy, such as through wind power, solar power and hydraulic power, can hardly meet growing demand, Shaw said.
As a result, the government should review its energy policy and develop renewable energies that can yield net energy, he said.
The institution has submitted suggestions to the government for re-examining renewable energy policy. But the Cabinet insisted on a policy of pushing the installed capacity of renewable energy to 10 percent by 2010, Shaw said.
Taiwan imports more than 98 percent of its energy, and feels the pinch whenever energy prices rise.
The nation may suffer power shortages within five years unless additional generators are built, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in June last year.
The government will favor plans for coal-fired stations when it awards contracts to build new capacity next year because they are cheaper to run and easier to supply than those fueled by gas.
"It looks like we'll have to rely on coal," Chan Wen-hong, an executive officer at the Bureau of Energy, said on Thursday.
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower,
The new projects aim to supply an extra 1,980 megawatts of capacity, enough to meet 5 percent of the nation's peak summer electricity demand. Tenders close on Dec. 5, and the government is likely to name two or three contract winners before the end of this February, Chan said.
"The choice of coal is pragmatic," Jeffrey Bor (
Gas-fired power plants are less favored because of shortages in supply and the time needed to build pipelines, he said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
STABLE RESULTS: Despite June’s lower consolidated revenue, second-quarter sales still reached a record high, driven by demand for chips for AI applications Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$263.71 billion (US$9.02 billion) for last month, its second-lowest monthly result this year. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that its revenue last month only fared better than the NT$260.01 billion posted in February. Last month’s figure rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier, but slumped 17.7 percent from May, the company said. However, second-quarter revenue reached NT$933.8 billion, a record high for a single quarter, company data showed. The figure represented growth of 11.26 percent from the first quarter and 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Previously, TSMC said that
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