Coal to Become Taiwan's Largest Energy Source By 2020

Jun 21 - BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

Coal will become Taiwan's largest energy source by 2020, accounting for 40 per cent to 42 per cent of the country's total energy supply, according to an adjusted national energy structure approved Tuesday [21 June] by the national energy conference. At the same time, petroleum will be the country's second- largest energy source at 32 per cent, followed by natural gas at 14 per cent to 18 per cent, nuclear energy at seven per cent and reusable energy at four per cent to six per cent, the newly- approved national energy structure shows.

In 2025, it continues, energy generated from coal will account for 41 per cent to 45 per cent of the country's total energy supply, followed by petroleum at 30 per cent to 31 per cent, natural gas at 16 per cent to 19 per cent, reusable energy at five per cent to seven per cent and nuclear energy at four per cent.

Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh said the conference decided to increase the country's energy reliance on coal given that the existing global coal reserves are estimated to supply the world's consumption for some 200 years, far longer than petroleum reserves. With respect to carbon dioxide emissions, Ho said Taiwan will adopt a "clean coal" measure to reduce pollution.

Meanwhile, she added, Taiwan will continue to decrease the use of nuclear energy to gradually achieve the nuclear-free goal set by the government.