Search

Taiwan, located in a subtropical area, is a high energy-importing nation with approximately 98% of our energy supplied by imported fuels since 2000. In this regard, renewable electricity systems from its richness of solar radiation and strong monsoon are thus becoming attractive due to the energy, economic, and environmental policies for pursuing clean electricity supply, sustainable development and greenhouse gases emission mitigation in Taiwan. The objective of this paper was to present an analysis of profitable promotion and innovative measures for renewable electricity in Taiwan because the photovoltaic (PV) power and wind power systems have rapidly increased the total installed capacity from 2.7 MW in 2000 to 1006.2 MW in 2013. The description in the paper was thus summarized on an analysis of renewable electricity supply since 2000 and its future goals up to 2030, and then centered on the new promotion legislation (i.e., Renewable Energy Development Act) in the measures of feed-in tariff (FIT) and tax/subsidy incentives. Current subsidiary and innovative programs to promote the development of renewable electricity technologies, including roof-type PV power, off-shore wind power and biogas-to-power, were also described. Due to its innovation promotion for renewable energy exploitation in recent years, Pingtung County, located in the southernmost of Taiwan, was introduced as a case study. Finally, some recommendations for promote renewable electricity development were addressed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan is a high energy-importing nation with more than 95% of its energy supplied by imported fuels. Environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are becoming significant environmental issues. In this regard, renewable energy like waste-to-energy are thus becoming attractive due to the energy policy for the sustainable development and environmental pollution mitigation in Taiwan. The objective of this paper is to present an updated overview of energy utilization from mass agrowastes in industries. The description is thus centered on new/revised promotion legislation/regulations especially concerning the agrowaste-to-energy in the measures of environmental protection and economic/financial incentives. The Statute for Renewable Energy Development is being enacted to further enhance and promote the green energy utilization, which is also addressed in the paper. Finally, we present the biomass energy utilization of three mass agrowastes (i.e. bagasse and rice husk from mills, and piggery wastes from swine farms) in progress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As a country lacking energy reserves, Taiwan imports 99.2% of its energy, with only a small portion of indigenous energy, such as hydro, wind, and solar. In 2008, each Taiwanese spent 85,000NTD dollars (1USD∼32NTD) to purchase oil, coal, gas, and nuclear fuel from foreign countries, accounting for a total payment of 1.8trillionNTD, more than the annual budget of the Taiwan government of 1.7trillionNTD. In the same year, Taiwan emitted about 1% of the world''s greenhouse gas (GHG), or 12tons per person-year, ranking 18th globally. These situations in terms of energy security and carbon emission are very severe. To resolve these severe situations, harnessing the power of the Kuroshio in eastern Taiwan offers a great opportunity. The Kuroshio is a branch of the North Pacific Ocean current. Due to the westward-enhanced effect, this ocean current is strong and stable as it passes through eastern Taiwan. The flow rate is about 30sverdrup (Sv) or 1000 times that of the Yangtze River, the average speed is 1m/s, the flow direction is fixed to the north, and the flow path is close to the east coast of Taiwan. By precisely locating high-quality sites and implementing sequential works with careful planning, one can possibly generate exploitable power more than 30GW. With 30GW of clean energy, Taiwan could effectively enhance energy security, reduce GHG emission, and lower energy-purchasing cost. This paper proposes a feasibility study to explore the power of the Kuroshio. The content consists of four parts: (1) assessment of Kuroshio power reserves, (2) development of turbine generators, (3) development of turbine-anchor system, and (4) deep-sea marine engineering of turbine clusters. By integrating these technologies above, we propose a project to construct a 30MW pilot plant. In this project, we also discuss the financial analysis and propose new regulations, environmental impact analysis, risk assessment, and other relevant issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In Taiwan, the government considers the zero-emission scooters to be a sustainable form of transport like walking, cycling and public transport, which play a vital role to support sustainable urban mobility. Therefore, the development of zero-emission scooters is an important strategy in constructing the sustainable transport network of Taiwan. It is also the government''s priorities about the policy of emission-reduction and energy-conservation in the transportation sector. Recently, Taiwan launched a new program for subsidy of purchasing zero-emission scooters, which aimed to shift the petroleum-powered scooters to the electric scooters. The present paper is providing an update review of the promotional programs in developing zero-emission scooters in Taiwan. It introduces the status of the establishment and progress of policy, standards, subsidies to users and manufacturers, practice infrastructure, and technology development. Moreover, the contribution of replacing petrol scooters by zero-emission scooters such as battery-powered electric scooters and fuel cell scooters to reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and improvement in energy efficiency is evaluated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Due to the high energy-importing dependence (98%) and tremendous greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission (over 13metric tons/capita-year), the diversification of kinds and sources of primary fuel like petroleum is making vital energy and environmental issues in Taiwan. In this regard, bioethanol fuel from energy crops has thus become attractive in this subtropical/tropical nation due to the rampant increase in oil price and governmental policies on promoting bioethanol as a potential substitute for gasoline fuel in recent years. The objective of this paper is to present an analysis of bioethanol fuel produced from sugar crops as one of the gasoline additives in the transportation sector of Taiwan. The analytical description in the manuscript is thus summarized on current energy supply and its future supply goal, and gasoline supply and consumption during the years of 1990–2005. It is emphasized that bioethanol was ever produced commercially from sugar manufacturing by-product (i.e., molasses) for more than 50 years in Taiwan. Concerning the promotion of bioethanol production, the description centered on new/revised promotion regulations/policies for the measures of agricultural sustainability, environmental protection, energy management, and financial incentives. Finally, we analyze the safety, health, and environmental risk of using bioethanol fuel, and also address its preliminary benefits on an industrial scale of 500,000kiloliters/year from a cane field of 100,000ha, showing a total energy output of 3.0×107 GJ/year and a CO2 mitigation of 7.5×105 metric tons/year. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]