Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taipower set higher target for reducing emissions

This article was written by Cecilia Fanchiang and published by the Taiwan Journal on February 24, 2006. It reports that the state-run Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) recently outlined its long-term plans to promote the conservation of energy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Taipower is Taiwan's electricity monopoly. The company is working with the government to achieve a sustainable environment in Taiwan, and has come p with a timetable to gradually cut down reliance on imported fossil fuels while increasing the utilization of various kinds of green energies.

Although Taiwan's population is slightly less than 23 million, it is one of the highest carbon dioxide (CO2)-emitting countries in the world per capita, accounting for 1 percent of total emissions. In recent years, the government has been working on reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases, even though it was barred from becoming a member of the United Nations and signing the Kyoto Protocol. In 1998, the government launched the Statute on the Development of Renewable Energy. It aimed to ensure that by 2020, at least three percent of Taiwan's electrical power is generated by use of low-pollution renewable energy.

However, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has decided that this aim is to conservative and is pushing to do better. As the agency that is responsible for setting up Taiwan's energy policy, the ministry said it will strive to achieve the goal of generating as much as five percent of Taiwan's electricity needs from renewable energy resources by 2010. A total of US$5 million in government funding will be appropriated to boost the research and development of renewable-energy technologies and promotion of energy conservation in Taiwan over a five-year period.