Debates over energy sources in Taiwan have centered on whether to embrace or reject the use of nuclear energy. In reality, nuclear energy has never accounted for a large portion of power consumption in Taiwan. The major source of power in Taiwan is actually thermal generation, which involves the burning of fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas. Both produce carbon dioxide.
Taiwan is an industrial and commercial country, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co the largest of many businesses that export products to all parts of the globe. When it comes to carbon emissions per person, Taiwan is near the top of the global list. Even so, Taiwan, with a population of about 23 million, accounts for only 0.56 percent of global carbon emissions. Regardless of the measures that Taiwan might take to reduce carbon emissions, it would have a minimal impact on the rest of the world. Therefore, discussions about decreasing emissions have been mostly about the value judgments of individuals and businesses.
An entirely new challenge emerged recently, with the EU and many Western corporations setting the lofty goal of net zero carbon emissions in their supply chains. This is a drastic change, as what was previously just a question of values has now become a real economic problem. Now, no green energy means no orders, and no orders means no business.
This has led to a shift in some EU countries’ attitudes toward nuclear energy. Until green energy is fully adopted, nuclear energy can be used to temporarily bridge the gap, as it does not require the burning of fossil fuels. However, after Europe gets through this difficult transitional period, it would eventually return to its original position of opposing nuclear energy.
Taiwan is now vigorously developing green energy, with solar and wind energy having made considerable progress. It could also implement geothermal and marine energy. It could even adopt underground and aquifer thermal energy storage technology, which Japan is developing. Another idea is to collect the carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels. Rather than releasing it into the atmosphere, it could be gathered using a method called carbon capture and deposited underground, known as carbon storage. However, simply storing the carbon has no economic benefit and poses the risk of leakage.
Taiwan’s economic strength is not only in semiconductor manufacturing. It has also been an important leader in the field of chemical engineering. Using chemical engineering, carbon dioxide can be chemically manipulated to create several other useful chemicals.
Additionally, the use of hydrogen is an important supplementary factor for green energy. Fuel cell vehicles can be used to make up for the lack of range in electric vehicles. The idea has also been raised to use hydrogen or ammonia as a replacement for ship fuel oil to decrease the carbon emissions of the shipping industry. The origin of hydrogen also falls within the domain of chemical engineering.
To simultaneously maintain the safety of Taiwan’s energy sources and satisfy the US and Europe’s requirements of decreasing supply-chain carbon emissions, Taiwan must earnestly address this important issue. This is why President William Lai (賴清德) established the National Climate Change Committee. Today, the Formosa Republican Association is to host a forum on energy and reaching net zero carbon emissions. Academics and experts are invited to the forum to join the discussion, with the goal of bringing all people together to find solutions to this important problem.
Tommy Lin is chairman of the Formosa Republican Association and director of the Taiwan United Nations Alliance.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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