The development of decarbonized hydrogen technology would help Taiwan meet its energy needs and nuclear-free target, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) told lawmakers at the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday.
Liu, a former chairman of PwC Taiwan’s Business Consulting Services, said there is no need to dwell on the energy-mix issue, as the nuclear-free policy is doable with the development of “green hydrogen.”
“The Cabinet is giving its top priority to ensuring sufficient electricity supply while seeking to reduce carbon emissions and fulfill the net carbon goal toward 2050,” Liu said, adding that a decarbonized hydrogen technology being developed by Academia Sinica is a potential solution for Taiwan and the rest of the world.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Hydrogen used by other countries still has pollution concerns, but the decarbonized technology would break natural gas into carbon and hydrogen, and then burn the hydrogen to generate electricity, Liu said.
Academia Sinica is experimenting with a process by which thermal energy is applied to methane to crack the chemical bond between the carbon and hydrogen comprising natural gas, generating hydrogen gas and a solid carbon product without carbon emissions, a Ministry of Economic Affairs task force said earlier.
The task force comprises representatives from government ministries, as well as Taiwan Power Co (台電), CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and China Steel Corp (中鋼), the Energy Administration has said.
Importing and producing hydrogen are potential strategies, with the goal for hydrogen to account for 9 to 12 percent of Taiwan’s energy mix, the Energy Administration said.
The development of artificial intelligence applications would increase the nation’s power consumption by 30 percent and sectors appear to care more about whether there is sufficient electricity supply rather than energy origins, Liu said.
Liu said he has no objection to nuclear power plants, if they meet safety and environment protection requirements, and there is the imminent threat of an electricity shortage.
However, extending the lifetimes of nuclear power plants and building new ones would first require the removal of legislative obstacles, a process that could take several years, and that is without factoring in societal resistance, he said.
The government has no intention of ditching the effort to make Taiwan nuclear-free while supporting economic growth, he said.
It would take another five years to complete the decarbonized hydrogen technology, while it would not enter commercial use until at least 2035, Liu said, citing Academic Sinica.
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