The government’s energy transition plan includes the nation’s third liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Guantang Industrial Park (觀塘工業區) off Datan Borough (大潭) in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音).
Because it is close to algal reefs, some environmental protection groups are promoting a referendum on the plan in an attempt to block construction of the terminal and protect the reefs.
To avoid a trainwreck, the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Monday announced that the terminal would be built a further 455m offshore at 1.2km. Doing so would eliminate the need for dredging in the reef area and minimize the impact of the construction on the environment.
The connection between energy transition and the LNG terminal is the long-term imbalance of energy use and generation between northern and southern Taiwan. In 2018, the Executive Yuan issued an energy policy report showing that the north uses 40 percent of the nation’s energy, but only generates 36 percent. Six percent is from the south.
In addition to losses during transfer, this means that the north relies on central and southern Taiwan for energy production, while the pollution stays in those parts of the country.
The terminal is planned for Taoyuan to provide LNG to the Datan power station so the north can produce all of its own energy.
Because energy generated with LNG is much cleaner than coal or oil, this is not only a matter of energy transition, it is also an attempt to address regional injustice.
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) support for the referendum lacks any legitimacy, because the plan for the terminal was drawn up under former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), which makes it clear that the party is just as aware of the discrepancy between the north’s power generation and use.
The difference is that the terminal planned by the KMT was 10 times the size of the current plan, encompassing the Datan reefs as well as the nearby Guanxin (觀新) reefs. The KMT’s support for the referendum is shameless.
Environmental organizations have asked whether the party is supporting the referendum — which asks: “Do you agree that CPC Corp, Taiwan’s LNG terminal should be relocated from its planned site on the algal reef coast of Datan and its adjacent waters?” — as a roundabout way of reviving the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
That the party does not mention nuclear waste only reinforces the feeling that it has ulterior motives.
Shao Kwang-tsao (邵廣昭), a retired researcher at Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Research Center, says that ecological conservation and restoration at the Datan reefs are going well, but the work must have leeway.
Furthermore, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has proposed that a fund be established to protect the reefs. Their comments shows that environmental protection does not stop development, as long as there is consideration over maintaining a balance.
If the referendum succeeds, it will affect Taiwan’s energy supply and carbon reduction. It will pose an energy crisis for Taiwanese industry, while multinational companies will redirect orders to countries with stable energy supply and successful carbon policies.
This is why Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said that the referendum passing would be a disaster for the environment, industry and the nation.
Liou Je-wei is a graduate student of political science at National Taiwan University.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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