With next month’s Energy Conference around the corner, academics yesterday put forth possible solutions for reshaping the nation’s energy sector, with some saying that using more coal alongside carbon dioxide capture and sequestration would greatly reduce energy costs with minimal environmental fallout, freeing up the capital required to fund the long-term development of alternative power sources.
Tamkang University chemistry professor Kao Hui-chun (高惠春) told a news conference in Taipei that Taiwan has great potential to develop renewable energy, as it is blessed with an abundance of alternative sources.
Citing research conducted by the Taiwan Association of University Professors, Kao said the nation is capable of generating up to 1.25 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy annually — five times the total amount consumed nationwide in 2012 — with sunlight and wind estimated to be able to generate about 450 billion and 250 billion kWh respectively.
Geothermal and ocean thermal energy conversion could provide an additional 200 billion kWh and 350 billion kWh of energy respectively every year, she added.
With respect to heating, Kao said the nation in 2012 consumed 1,320 gigajoules of heat and that 800 gigajoules of this demand can be covered by biomass energy.
Lin Li-fu (林立夫), a research fellow at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, said Taiwan produces only 3 percent of the energy it consumes, making it extremely vulnerable to international energy price fluctuations.
The problem is manifested in Taiwan’s energy cost-GDP ratio, which has soared from about 4 percent in 2003 to 13 percent in recent years, he said.
Lin said the top priority in policymaking is lowering the nation’s dependence on imported energy by investing in advanced technologies to widen its power resources, which in turn would drive economic growth and create jobs.
On the policy of raising the proportion of the nation’s energy supply derived from natural gas from 12 to 25 percent, as touted by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, Lin said that natural gas is a pricey import — at about NT$4.6 per kWh — so the government should abandon this tact.
Instead, Lin said the government should make coal, which has an energy cost about half that of natural gas, the main source of power, while employing carbon dioxide capture storage to cap emissions as an alternative energy infrastructure is developed.
He also suggested that industries improve energy efficiency by introducing value-added products. For example, iPhones and smartphones made domestically consume equal amounts of energy during manufacturing, but the former has much more added value derived from its innovativeness.
“GDP growth and energy efficiency are related. One cannot expect to boost energy efficiency without also pursuing GDP growth,” he said.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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