Environmental groups yesterday gathered in front of the Ministry of Environment in Taipei, prior to a public hearing on greenhouse gas reduction action plans, to urge the government to conduct strategic environmental assessments (SEAs) of its green transition policies.
Government Watch Alliance convenor Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said the legislature at the beginning of this year asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to conduct a SEA of its energy policies and to propose a plan within three months.
However, it has yet to propose a SEA plan, she said, urging the economic affairs ministry to complete the assessment of its gas power and renewable energy policies before setting up action plans and convening public hearings.
Photo: CNA
Typhoon Danas destroyed many solar panels in coastal and hillside areas, showing that solar power developments without SEA could become a disaster, Chen said.
The economics ministry has set a target of 31.2 gigawatts (GW) of solar power nationwide by 2030, 55 percent higher than the target for next year, she said.
However, roof-mounted solar panels for the private sector, which were not included in the 31.2GW target, should be prioritized, so that more farmland can be preserved to ensure food security, Chen said.
Alliance deputy convenor Chen Hsien-cheng (陳憲政) said the government ramped up the construction of natural gas receiving terminals, as it had chosen gas as a bridge for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
However, gas is also a fossil fuel and its receiving terminals could harm the marine environment, he said.
The economics ministry should promptly conduct a SEA of its gas policy and estimate the gas demand and supply for the next 10 to 30 years, Chen Hsien-cheng said.
It should also reveal its plans for building gas receiving terminals and relevant details, as well as propose an ecological restoration scheme to be implemented when terminals are retired due to reduced gas demand, he added.
Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association attorney Tsai Ya-ying (蔡雅瀅) said the government has been constructing more gas power facilities, which are high-carbon-emitting and have amounted to 37.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from Taiwan Power Co thermal power facilities.
The government should propose a target for zero growth of power use and redirect the NT$121.8 billion (US$4.17 billion) budget for the construction of the fourth natural gas terminal in Keelung to promoting energy saving plans and green energy use, she said.
Alliance CEO Hsu Hsin-hsin (許心欣) said the manufacturing sector’s carbon reduction target of 18 percent by 2030 — 10 percentage points lower than the national target of 28 percent — is not enough, given that it has the most emissions at 51 percent.
The manufacturing sector might not meet the 18 percent target, given its annual carbon reduction rate of about 0.6 percent over the past 19 years, Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) said.
Association researcher Hong Shuo-cheng (洪碩辰) said that economic expansion without limit is the root cause of increasing emissions.
Although emissions from power generation decreased by 12 percent from 2015 to 2023, total carbon emissions declined by only 4 percent, he said, adding that limitless, increasing power demand would hold back carbon reduction efforts.
It can only reduce emissions by an estimated 3 to 5 percent if the government fails to propose a much more proactive carbon reduction approach, he said.
Energy Administration Acting Director-General Lee Chun-li (李君禮) at a public hearing said the agency has been working on SEAs of energy policies.
While qualitative analyses have been done, more time is required to collect data for quantitative analyses, he said.
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