Environmental activists and representatives of “green” energy firms yesterday urged the government to set higher prices for electricity from renewable sources.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is expected to promulgate this year’s scheme for renewable energy prices in the coming days. The scheme is reviewed once a year.
Unhappy with the ministry’s proposal for electricity from private-sector companies, a group led by InfraVest Wind Power chairman Karl-Eugen Feifel gathered outside the Executive Yuan yesterday, calling on the government to honor pledges to bolster renewable energy and cut carbon emissions.
Feifel said he was disappointed as the government’s energy policy showed that the country had “said ‘No’ to renewable energy.”
The German wind energy company threatened to withdraw from Taiwan last April unless the Renewable Energy Act (再生能源條例) was passed. The act passed two months later.
But the activists said yesterday that the legislation had not helped bring energy prices to levels that reflected production costs.
The ministry proposes a price hike to NT$2.38 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for private-sector wind-generated electricity, which activists said was still not enough.
The activists compared this price to Taiwan Power Co’s (台電公司) production costs for wind power, which they said was NT$3.23 per kWh, asking how NT$2.38 per kWh could therefore be enough.
Feifel criticized the government for “saying one thing and doing another.” Although it has promised to promote renewable energy, NT$2.38 per kWh is even lower than production costs for thermal power at about NT$2.76 per kWh, he said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS