President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of January 26 attended the opening ceremonies of the National Energy Conference plenary session at the Taipei International Convention Center. In addition to explaining the ROC's current energy policies and its achievements in promoting energy conservation and carbon reduction, the president also expressed hope that the conference participants will draw on their collective wisdom and provide the government with ideas to help future policies to promote a low-carbon, sustainable environment.
In remarks, President Ma stated that holding this National Energy Conference fulfills a pledge he made to the public on April 27 of last year when he announced that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant would be mothballed following safety inspections. Prior to the conference, the related government agencies had already made careful plans for over eight months, and held discussions with the relevant private enterprises and groups. So the conference was being held, the president said, after soliciting suggestions from society at large, adding that he hoped a general consensus can be forged in light of the diversity of the attendees.
President Ma went on to explain that the government on November 3, 2011 announced the New Energy Policy of Taiwan. This policy is guided by the three major principles: "no power rationing, maintaining reasonable power prices, and making good on our pledges to the international community to reduce carbon emissions." The ultimate objectives, he said, are: "to ensure nuclear safety, gradually reduce reliance on nuclear power, and create a green power and low-carbon environment to become a nuclear-free country step by step." In April of last year the government also made a strategic decision to "mothball the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant after safety inspections and have the public decide by referendum whether the plant will go into commercial operation down the road." It was hoped that this stance would reduce the controversy surrounding this issue, and provide the flexibility required for the future development of the nation's energy sector. This, he said, would provide the next generation with the opportunity to choose their energy sources.
The president noted that as an island, Taiwan has an independent energy grid, which makes it impossible to purchase power from neighboring countries. Taiwan presently relies on imports for over 98% of its energy needs and is thus highly dependent on fossil fuels, two factors that are not conducive to achieving the nation's energy conservation and carbon reduction goals. There are, however, subjective and objective limitations to the development of renewable energies, primarily due to high technology thresholds and costs. At the same time, just as some of the nation's aging power plants are on the verge of being decommissioned, the decision was reached to temporarily mothball the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, though it was built to fill any energy shortfall. That puts Taiwan at risk for future electricity shortages. Choosing sufficient, affordable, reliable, sustainable, and clean sources of energy has thus become a major issue and challenge for the government.
President Ma acknowledged that it is difficult to choose energy sources, as each type of energy has its advantages and risks, as well as its respective costs. Various sectors of society thus have different expectations as to what constitutes an optimal energy mix. The government hopes that the individuals attending this conference will engage in discussion and exchange opinions in order to "reduce differences and reach consensus." The president commented that the government will not lightly forsake any type of energy, including coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power, wind power, and solar power, and will work to find the "optimal energy mix."
As for the latest energy development trends in the international community, President Ma noted that in December of 2014, the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was held in Lima, Peru. The participants reached a consensus resulting in the Lima Call for Climate Action (LCCA), which urges all signatories to respond to the goals set for reducing CO2 emissions, and at the same time ensure that the global average temperature increase is no more than 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. This consensus has already become an important foundation for promoting the signing of the Paris 2015 Agreement, so major nations are moving more quickly to establish the relevant carbon reduction criteria and systems. Even more noteworthy is that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in April last year classified nuclear energy generation as a mature option for reducing carbon emissions.
The president also pointed to an analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicating that by the year 2040, fossil fuels will continue to be the main global energy source, generating 55 percent of the world's power. While renewable energy sources will show rapid growth, they will account for only 33% of the overall power supply, which will still be insufficient to fully replace fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the change in nuclear energy output will be the smallest of these three categories, continuing to account for 12 percent of the world's overall power supply.
President Ma also explained the government's s related measures and results in response to three core discussion topics at the conference—effective reduction of energy demand, steady expansion of energy supply resources, and continued promotion of a low-carbon, sustainable environment.
With regards to effectively reducing energy demand, the president stated that upon taking office in 2008 he asked government agencies to actively promote energy conservation measures and reduce carbon emissions. One initiative was to convert all of the lights in Taiwan's traffic signals to LED lamps, making the ROC the second country in the world to do so. These efforts to promote the use of LED street lighting here in Taiwan are still on-going. In addition, an initiative begun seven years ago to promote the conservation of petroleum, electricity, water, and paper at all government agencies and schools has proven quite effective. Over the past few years, energy efficiency in Taiwan has increased over 2% annually. Furthermore, according to data on global energy efficiency released by the IEA in 2013, the ROC's improvement in energy efficiency has exceeded that of the United States, France, Japan, and Korea. This shows that the efforts of the public have been recognized in the international community.
As for the steady expansion of energy supply resources, President Ma remarked that in order to hasten the development and extension of renewable energies, the Renewable Energy Development Act was promulgated and entered into force in July of 2009. Fixed energy wholesale rates and 20-year purchase guarantees were introduced to provide those investing in solar power installations with a reasonable investment return, and attract more investment to that market sector. At the same time, the government has promoted the "Million Solar Rooftop PVs" project that calls for solar panel installations sufficient to provide the equivalent of the energy generated by a million rooftop installations, and the "Thousand Wind Turbines Promotion" that aims to construct 1,000 land and sea-based wind turbines. These programs hope to boost national installed capacity of renewable energy to 13,750 MW by 2030, an increase of 27%. The president stated that the government in recent years also has actively promoted the Green Energy Industry Program, which focuses on promoting four key green energy industries: PV, LED, wind power, and energy information and communication technology (EICT). Last year, these industries generated a total output value of NT$488.4 billion and created 70,000 jobs, with Taiwan ranked second in global production volume of solar cells, second in global LED backlight module production value, and third in LED lighting optoelectronic component production value. This highlights Taiwan's international competitiveness in the development of green energy industries.
President Ma also emphasized that the government is making every effort to achieve a low-carbon, sustainable environment. So over the past few years, it has actively promoted 10 benchmark programs to conserve energy and reduce carbon output in energy generation, industry, home use, the service sector, transportation, and agriculture. This has already enabled Taiwan to reduce its global share of carbon output from 0.95% in 2007 to 0.84% in 2011. Furthermore, from 2010 to 2013, the ROC's average annual reduction in carbon emissions per unit of GDP was 2.56%. As the president noted, these achievements all speak to the cooperative efforts of the government and the public.
Among those in attendance were Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), Vice Premier Chang San-cheng (張善政), Minister of Economic Affairs John C. C. Deng (鄧振中), and Deputy Secretary-General to the President Hsiung Kuang-hua (熊光華).