The Executive Yuan has allocated NT$4.061 billion (US$125.6 million) for a two-year project to accelerate the production of hydrogen power for domestic use.
The plan, which is being enforced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the National Science and Technology Council and three state-run corporations — China Steel Corp (中鋼), CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Taiwan Power Co (台電) — earmarks NT$953 million for this year and NT$3.108 billion for next year, it said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has established a task force for hydrogen energy development to take charge of policy and applications planning.
Photo: Taipei Times
Energy and industrial department officials estimated that the nation would need 4.35 million tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2050, with 3.25 million tonnes imported from other countries.
Energy administration officials in June tasked Kawasaki Heavy Industries with assessing whether the Port of Kaohsiung would be a good location to build liquid hydrogen receiving stations, with a detailed analysis due by the end of this year.
Japan has extensive experience in building such facilities, and Japanese specialists would evaluate whether the Port of Kaohsiung is fit to accommodate such infrastructure, officials said.
They would have to negotiate with Taiwan International Ports Corp (台灣港務) about using 496 hectares of its property around the port, officials said.
The Executive Yuan has set a goal of deriving 9 to 12 percent of the nation’s power from hydrogen by 2050.
To attain that goal, Taiwan Power has chosen Hsinta Power Plant to be a testing ground to generate hybrid hydrogen power, Cabinet officials said.
As a trial run of hybrid hydrogen power generation is scheduled to start at the end of year, it is hoped that the goal of having 5 percent of the plant’s power generated from hybrid hydrogen can be achieved earlier than scheduled, they said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has proposed a hydrogen city bus project, in which bus operators would receive funding over four years if they use hydrogen vehicles on at least one of two bus routes.
Hydrogen vehicles, when fully charged, can operate 400km to 600km at a time, a transportation official said, adding that bus operators have expressed an interest in participating in the project.
CPC Taiwan is planning to build a mobile hydrogen refueling station, which would be able to refuel seven hydrogen buses, although the company said that it would be a challenge to complete the station as scheduled.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS