Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Wednesday presented his energy policy, calling for a transition to sustainable energy and extending the lifetime of two nuclear power plants.
By 2030, the nation’s energy composition would be 45 percent gas, 30 percent from renewable sources, 15 percent coal and 10 percent nuclear energy, Ko told a news conference.
The TPP chairman said that the carbon emissions reduction goal set by the government in 2020 to lower emissions by 2 percent from the 2005 baseline was a failure, as emissions increased by 2.6 percent in 2021.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
He also criticized the government’s approach to developing renewable sources and the work of the National Council for Sustainable Development, established in 1997 under the Executive Yuan.
If elected, he would set up a climate change and sustainability committee that would invite representatives from government agencies, academia, civic groups, youth and other stakeholders to draw up strategies for the nation’s sustainable development, Ko said.
He would also propose allocating carbon emissions quotas based on sectors, regularly examine the results of carbon emissions reduction initiatives and set up a transition fund paid for by carbon fees to promote balanced development, he added.
Other than relying on a wide range of energy sources to lower Taiwan’s dependence on imports, the development of renewable sources and investment in green technologies should also be encouraged, he said.
Nuclear power is necessary for the country’s energy transition and the most pragmatic way is not to set a deadline to “stop nuclear power,” which should only be done when renewable sources are sufficiently developed, he said.
He proposed extending the operation of the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County, and re-examining the operability of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
The decommissioning of the Guosheng plant started this year and the Ma-anshan plant is to begin shutting down next year.
To minimize disputes over renewable energy development projects, Ko proposed setting up a coordination mechanism to identify and coordinate the needs of developers before local governments approve projects.
Ko said that Taiwan should have a carbon pricing mechanism that prevents Taiwanese enterprises from being taxed by other countries.
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential campaign office said in a statement that Ko’s vision of a future with multiple sources of renewable energy while refusing to set a deadline for ending nuclear power was irresponsible.
The DPP also criticized Ko for saying “how nuclear waste should be handled can be discussed later,” while proposing extending the operation of two nuclear power plants.
On Oct. 19, Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the DPP’s presidential candidate, said that he would not rule out using nuclear power if its safety is guaranteed and the problem of waste could be solved.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, in July said that if elected, he would not phase out nuclear power and would reopen decommissioned plants.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
RSS