Academia Sinica officials yesterday said they would propose an energy policy package next year aimed at reducing greenhouse gases emissions and developing nuclear-free energy amid controversy over nuclear waste management.
In a question-and-answer session at a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) questioned Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) over the status of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法) and relevant energy policies following the enactment of the legislation in June.
Citing an energy policy report released by the Academia Sinica in 2008 that promoted the use of nuclear energy as a means of reducing carbon emissions, Cheng asked if the institution still maintains that position, given that no acceptable way has been found to dispose of radioactive waste, and the cost of nuclear energy turned out to be higher than had been estimated.
Wong said that the new policy proposals would be based on the development of renewable energy, and include assessments of the potential viability of solar power, wind energy, geothermal power and tidal power.
Academica Sinica Research Center for Environmental Changes director Wang Pao-kuan (王寶貫) said that the development of nuclear energy has safety implications and the package would likely not propose nuclear energy as a way to combat greenhouse gas emissions.
The package would take into account the decommissioning of the nation’s three operating nuclear plants and the sealing of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), which has not yet been completed, Wang said.
Wong said the carbon emission reduction goals to be reached at the UN’s Climate Change Conference in Paris in December could well affect Taiwan, even though the nation is not a member of the UN.
Taiwan’s competitors could impose trade restrictions should the nation fail to commit to emission reductions, Wong said.
It took director Chong Keat Aun (張吉安) nearly a decade to complete Snow in Midsummer (五月雪), a deft chronicle of Malaysia’s May 13 incident told through one woman’s search for her brother and father. Although only his second feature, it led the field at yesterday’s Golden Horse Awards with nine nominations. Chong said it had been a struggle to get people to share their memories of the intercommunal violence following the 1969 national election, known among the country’s ethnic Chinese community as “513.” “My father, for example, would shut the conversation down if my mother or grandma even mentioned the topic,” Chong said
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
RSS