The international consensus is drifting toward embracing nuclear energy, and Taiwan’s politicians, regardless of political camp, should also reconsider their stance on the controversial issue, former US secretary of energy Steven Chu (朱棣文) said yesterday at the Forum on the Power for Sustainable Economic Development in Taipei.
Nuclear power is a controversial issue in Taiwan, but other countries are again choosing it as a preferred option, Chu said.
Chu cited a shift in the US, in which the California governor had pledged to shut down two nuclear power plants, but ultimately agreed to extend the licenses for both plants for two decades.
Photo: CNA
Nuclear power provides energy security, especially when there is no wind and sunlight is weak, he said, adding that “those in the know should give voice to their opinions.”
In terms of nuclear power safety, Chu said to look at the mortality statistics for every kilowatt-hour of electricity generated, stating that the highest mortality rate was held by burning brown coal, followed, in descending order, by coal, diesel, biomass, liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydroelectricity, wind and, finally, nuclear energy.
Global tech giants such as Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are also evaluating the possibility of using nuclear power, as data centers consume a lot of power, Chu said.
Commenting on net zero goals, Chu said a UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report concluded that one-quarter of greenhouse gases originated from electricity and heat generation.
The overhead required to develop renewable energy has continued to drop, Chu said, adding that photoelectric power generation overhead has decreased by 80 percent in the past decade, while land-based wind turbines have decreased by 38 percent in the same timeframe.
Forty to 60 percent of electricity would be generated by wind or solar sources by 2040, he said.
However, the power sources are intermittent and would create significant stress on the power grid, he added.
Taiwan’s power grid would need to rely on demand response measures, employ artificial intelligence and establish low-cost energy storage facilities, such as pumped-storage hydroelectricity facilities, to ease the stress on its grid, Chu said.
Taiwan must be aware of the threat of foreign powers damaging LNG pipes to destabilize its power grid, he said.
Even if renewable power comprised 50 percent of Taiwan’s power generation, the remaining half is generated by coal-fired or LNG sources, the latter of which is expensive, while Taiwan has insufficient storage facilities, he said.
At Taiwan’s current storage capacity, the nation would only have 10 days of LNG supply, making it a severe energy security issue if Taiwan was to be cut off, Chu added.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
RSS