The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said alternative energy generation should be developed in Taiwan to replace nuclear energy, and approved a proposal demanding that the cities and counties it governs develop safer, green energy.
The proposal, initiated by former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), suggests that geothermal power could be developed in Yilan County and solar power should be developed in southern cities and counties, such as Yunlin, Greater Tainan, Greater Kaohsiung and Pingtung, where sunlight is abundant.
Taiwan has an abundance of the natural resources required to develop alternative energy and has among the largest energy-saving and renewable energy equipment production in the world, and there is no reason why it should not develop green energy, DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee (CSC) meeting.
State-owned Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) monopoly explains why Taiwan has been slow in developing alternative energy to replace nuclear energy, Su said.
“It’s time for the government to set a goal of alternative energy development and stop wasting taxpayers’ money on nuclear energy, so that Taiwanese and future generations no longer live in fear of a nuclear disaster,” Su told the meeting.
Lin Ching-fuh (林清富), chairman of National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, briefed the meeting in his report on low-cost solar power, DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
The spokesperson said that according to the professor, the cost of solar power, which accounts for only 0.07 percent of annual electricity output in Taiwan, would gradually decrease and could be lower than the cost of nuclear power in only five years.
Also to Taiwan’s advantage are the more than 160 companies and a complete upstream and downstream supply chain in the solar energy sector, the spokesperson said, although less than 3 percent of the companies’ products are sold in the domestic market.
Solar power installation in an area of 100km2 would be able to generate the same output of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), showing that the controversial plant is not necessary, as the government claims, Lin Chun-hsien said.
An amendment of the Electricity Act (電業法), which eases regulations on alternative energy development, would be crucial, but the DPP understood that the amendment requires time in the legislature, which was why the party decided to begin with developing such energy in the region it governs, the spokesperson said.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with