Taipower chairman Edward Chen (陳貴明) recently predicted that unless energy prices were raised, the company could lose NT$110 billion (US$3.6 billion) this year and eventually go bankrupt as its capital is depleted. Chen attributed the cause to the soaring cost of fuel. Implicated in this announcement is the problem of the government’s energy choices.
The average price of coal has risen from about US$40 per tonne in 2005 to US$125 in February. Factors such as the flooding of major coal mines in Australia (Taiwan’s main supplier), problems with coal transportation (including insufficient ports and a shortage of coal trucks), as well as the pressure from rising demand in China and India all pose a threat to the stability of the supply and pricing of coal.
Despite these threats, the government is aggressively pushing plans to renew and expand the Shenao (深澳) and Linkou (林口) coal-fired power plants, with investment estimated to exceed NT$58 billion and NT$83 billion respectively. The aggregate capacity of these two generators would far exceed the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, and each are expected to operate for more than 40 years. It is not difficult to anticipate their impact on the nation’s standard of living, economy, energy and environment — as well as on the global climate.
For nearly half a century, the operation of these two generators and their supply of electricity have made a significant contribution to national development and progress.
However, the rising costs of energy today and the global consensus on the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions make the renewal and expansion of these two generators a rare opportunity for the government to demonstrate foresight and capability, as well as to concretely respond to domestic requirements and global trends.
It is therefore difficult to comprehend why the new generators so strongly touted by the government are not only commonly recognized as the dirtiest, but also why the expansion must include the additional construction of 1,420m of breakwater, 6.7 hectares of reclaimed land and a purpose-built port for unloading coal — the greatest threat to the oceanic environment.
Coal-fired generators are a major source of airborne pollution. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the operation of the new Linkou and Shenao plants would burn an equivalent of 11.44 million tonnes of coal and use 70.4 billion liters of water annually. At the same time, they would emit 80,000 tonnes of sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide, 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, 4,000 tonnes of particulates, 1,760 tonnes of hydrocarbons, 5,716 tonnes of carbon monoxide, 1 million tonnes of ashes, 1.5 million tonnes of dredge and residue, 820kg of arsenic, 415kg of lead, 15kg of cadmium and many other heavy metals.
Coal contains 67 kinds of natural elements, including uranium. The US Department of Energy has stated that a coal-fired generator emits more radiation than a nuclear generator.
Statistics recently released by Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) shows that local air quality has already deteriorated severely: The number of days when air quality was deemed poor is nearly double that of the previous year. Air quality in all five of the EPA’s major assessment zones has also degenerated. And in the last 10 years, the nation’s carbon emissions continued to record new highs. Don’t these factors constitute a stark warning to the government?
The growth of thermal power will also intensify the competition for water supply for daily consumption and agricultural use. Although Taiwan has the natural advantage of being able to use cheap and plentiful seawater to remove waste heat, power generators should be designed to achieve higher efficiency levels with lower water consumption. Runoff and wastewater disposal from coal and coal dust stacks, as well as pollution prevention mechanisms and systems, all drastically consume and threaten the water supply and should be avoided where possible.
It is easy to understand why Taipower chose coal as its fuel source given its relatively lower cost of power generation. However, it is important to note that while current policy does not incorporate many of the exterior costs cited above, global trends imply that they will soon be absorbed into economic tools such as carbon taxes and will therefore affect Taipower, a generator and trader of energy.
Aside from considering immediate gains, the government should factor in other issues of primary importance, such as health and environment, when planning the design of new power plants.
Given the nation’s limited resources, the government should make effective use of every opportunity to reflect on its choice of power generation. The generators at Shenao and Linkou present key opportunities for the government as it faces the multiple challenges of continuing losses by Taipower, soaring fossil fuel prices, the global pressure to reduce carbon emissions, safeguarding the nation’s pristine coastal areas, recognizing the relationship between health and the environment, promoting and developing the nation’s tourism potential and the declining costs of alternative competitive fuel sources.
Obviously, the proposed renewal of the Linkou and Shenao power plants is environmentally unfriendly and uneconomical. For Earth Day, a pledge to reconsider the two coal-fired generators is the most comprehensive action toward striving for economic progress, improving the standard of living and demonstrating care for our home and for the Earth.
Hua Jian is an associate professor of marine engineering at National Taiwan Ocean University.
Translated by Angela Hong
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