The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) yesterday proposed four major policy directions to help the nation cope with soaring oil prices.
The government should consider restructuring local industries, establishing a green, intelligent transportation system, developing non-fossil fuel energies and constructing green buildings and low-carbon cities, CEPD Chairman Chen Tian-jy (陳添枝) said.
He also called for the speedy enactment of a draft greenhouse gas reduction act to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
Such an act would quickly spawn an industry built around conserving energy, as the act would place a cost on carbon dioxide emissions, creating incentives for local businesses, Chen said.
Although the Cabinet does not yet have a timetable for promoting the act and related work, Chen said, “we can wait no longer. We must do it quickly.”
Meanwhile, while restructuring local industries is important, the government should also ensure that economic development will not be compromised, Chen said.
He said it would be necessary to reduce the energy consumption per NT$1 of GDP, adding that this meant fuel and energy efficiency had to be enhanced.
This would not translate into phasing out energy-consuming industries during the industrial restructuring process, Chen said, but rather involve finding a good balance within the nation’s overall industrial structure.
As far as the the local transportation system was concerned, Chen said high fuel prices would result in less frequent automobile use and more widespread use of bicycles and electrical scooters.
Such a scenario meant a potential shift in priorities, he said.
At present, highway construction still accounts for the biggest share of the nation’s total public construction, Chen said, and while rail projects have grown in recent years, more needs to be done.
Chen urged the government to be more active in building intelligent, green transportation systems.
One simple idea would be to allow bicycles to use parts of roads currently dedicated to automobiles as more people shift to less energy-consuming transportation methods, Chen said.
To deal with rising oil prices, the nation should also develop non-fossil fuel energies more aggressively, he said, even though significant results still have to be achieved despite several years of development of renewable energy technologies.
European countries have started developing several key renewable energies, with Germany focusing on wind and solar power, France targeting nuclear energy and the Netherlands eyeing wind energy, Chen said.
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