On June 10, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said the government was using various methods to promote energy conservation and reduce carbon emissions. He then appeared on television and described how the public could contribute by using energy saving lamps and raising the temperature settings on air conditioners.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has also created incentives for energy conservation and carbon reduction and has released information on how the public can save energy and decrease domestic electricity bills.
A few days ago, 19 large hospitals, 21 large hotels and 13 department stores voluntarily signed agreements with the ministry on energy conservation. The ministry has said these agreements will help businesses save NT$1.4 billion (US$46.1 million).
A report written after a meeting at Academia Sinica on potential energy conservation policies in response to global warming said the government should cancel subsidies to the steel, petrochemical and cement industries. The report also recommended that other industries that consume large amounts of energy produce only enough products for domestic use and that they stop producing goods for export.
In light of all this, it is extremely contradictory that the Environmental Protection Administration passed an environmental impact assessment (EIA) to expand a coal-fired power plant in Taipei County’s Linkou Township (林口) a few days ago. The Linkou plant already emits more than 13.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Some time ago, another coal-fired power plant located in Taipei County’s Shenao (深澳) that produces more than 8.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year also passed its EIA. The initial budgets for these plants were NT$58 billion and NT$83 billion respectively when the Council for Economic Planning and Development first approved them. However, these have now almost doubled. Even more important is that these two plants will operate for an estimated 40 years to 50 years and the coal they require to operate has increased in price from US$42 per tonne in 2005 to US$200 per tonne now.
Taiwan’s power stations almost totally rely on imported fuel materials. If we fail to grasp each chance to update our power plants, we will miss many opportunities for implementing new technologies that can help us achieve sustainable development.
In terms of electricity consumption, consumers need to learn how to conserve energy. Simultaneously, government policy should be used to control the supply side and improve Taiwan’s energy efficiency.
Twenty years ago, coal-fired power technology entered the “ultra-supercritical era.” The Huaneng Yuhuan Power Plant in Zhejiang Province, China, which started commercial operation at the end of last year, already has a power generation efficiency of more than 50 percent.
By 2100, power plants that are part of the EU’s THERMIE program will reach 52 percent to 55 percent energy efficiency and the US Department of Energy expects the energy efficiency of ultra-supercritical power plants will eventually increase to 60 percent.
In Taiwan, there are combined cycle gas turbine plants in Tongsiao Township (通宵) and Datan (大潭) that are 30 percent more efficient than regular power plants, emitting 50 percent less carbon dioxide than conventional coal-fired power plants.
These plants emit much less waste and do not need the shipping docks and breakwater structures necessary for storing and transporting coal fuel and fly ash. Even with this being the case, the Linkou and Shenao power plants that are being expanded are only supercritical power plants with energy efficiency of 43.5 percent. The Shenao coal-fired power plant will be building breakwater structures 1,420m long and 10m above surface level as well as an additional 7.62 hectares of reclaimed land and dedicated shipping docks.
Taiwan Power Co president Edward Chen (陳貴明) recently announced that the company lost NT$40 billion last year and that it expects to lose another NT$100 billion this year. Chen also said that next year they could lose as much as NT$160 billion. The main reason for these losses was the increase in the price of fossil fuels, he said.
Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien recently told the legislature that the fiasco surrounding the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao Township (貢寮) in Taipei County was not caused by bad policy, but by a number of officials who neglected their duty. Wang also said that even though the officials who decided to build the plant were no longer in their original posts, investigations into the case would still be carried out. Regardless of whether the plant was a result of poor policy or negligent officials, I hope that the Control Yuan can get to the bottom of who was responsible for the mess and make sure that similar incidents will be prevented.
If the government built a “park of future energy sources” opposite the Chaojing Park at the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology that incorporated a small, efficient power plant using conventional fuels with various renewable energy systems and equipment instead of the coal-fired power station that is being planned for Fanziao Bay (蕃仔澳), it would be a step in the right direction for our economy and the environment.
Hua Jian is an associate professor of marine engineering at National Taiwan Ocean University.
Translated by Drew Cameron
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