In order to materialize the vision of nuclear-free homeland by 2025, the Tsai Ing-wen administration has targeted raising the share of green power to 20%. The "alliance for pushing energy transformation," organized by dozens of NGOs, however, expressed concern recently that most municipal governments appear to remain largely unprepared for the initiative.
The alliance questioned whether municipal governments have set up dedicated unit for pushing green power and checked green-energy resources in their municipalities, warning that subsidies from the central government would be a waste, should municipal governments lack the concept of energy transformation and conservation.
In contrast to the central government gearing up for the initiative, municipal government remain lukewarm. The alliance noted that most municipal governments have yet to establish dedicated unit integrating green power and energy conservation, pinpoint potential green-power sites, and assess peak power load for different regions and power-consumption categories, which are essential for the promotion of energy conservation and green power.
In addition, municipal governments play a key role in energy conservation, as they are in charge of low-voltage business or residential power consumers, accounting for over 50% power consumption during peak load, much higher than 30% for the whole year.
Environmental groups urge municipal governments to brace for the advent of green-power era, supporting diversification of overly centralized power transmission and distribution system, so that citizens can take part in green-power investments. Wu Hsin-ping, director of the Homemakers United Foundation, refers to the example of civic power plants in France, whose government joins hands with communal residents in developing localized green power. By comparison, it is very difficult for citizens in Taiwan to take part in green-power investments, mainly due to red tapes, as it would take six months for obtaining approval for installing PV panels.
For its green-power initiative, the DPP government focuses on wind power and PV power, both of whose paths, however, are long and bumpy. Taiwan lags behind high-latitude nations in wind-power efficiency and there is still much dispute concerning the siting of solar sheds, on top of inability of municipal governments to pinpoint potential green-power sites, problems blocking achievement of 20% share for green power by 2025.
With substitution of renewable energy for fossil fuel having become an irresistible trend worldwide, a paper released by a research team at the University of California, David, headed by Kara Moore O'Leary, stresses that for the sustainable development of renewable energy, compatibility with the environment and ecology should be taken into account.
(Collaborative media: TechNews, photo courtesy of pxabay)