The Taipei Times
Friday, Jul 28, 2006, Page 8
Advertising Prices for electricity, gasoline, natural gas and cars, as well as train and plane tickets, have gone up recently. According to media reports, rising prices set against fixed salaries means that we are all getting poorer by the day. Indeed, fossil fuels are a limited resource, and with developing countries rushing to industrialize, intensified competition for resources and constant wars in the Middle East, oil prices are soaring. Summer temperatures in Taiwan have hit 37oC and torrential rains have followed. Global temperatures are rising every year, and the research data shows that the average global temperature has risen by 0.6oC over the past 100 years. The increase has been faster in recent years, and it is estimated that temperatures will have risen by between one and several degrees by the end of this century.
By then, the globe's climate will have undergone great change, with frequent floods and droughts. Melting polar ice caps will have caused sea levels to rise by several meters, inundating most of today's ports. Frequent forest fires will speed up the warming of the earth's surface and mankind will experience unprecedented disasters.
The current over-use of fossil fuels is creating a global greenhouse effect, leading us closer to irreversible environmental disaster.
To minimize the greenhouse effect, the UN is promoting the Kyoto Protocol, which places national restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. Although Taiwan is not a signatory to the agreement, 98 percent of our energy is imported, and we have to abide by the regulations to avoid international sanctions. The general public should understand this and the need for a campaign to promote reduced carbon emissions and energy conservation.
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we could use green renewable energy sources such as biomass, solar power, wind power, geothermal heat or nuclear power.
Biomass energy uses ethanol made from fermenting plants. With minor adjustments, engines can run on a mixture of gasoline and ethanol. The high cost can be offset with the application of more advanced technology, but scientists estimate that even if all land not used to plant grain was used to grow plants to make ethanol, it would still only provide 30 percent of global energy needs.
Solar-powered batteries are even more costly, but are still a favored option. The pollution created by the chemicals used in the process of manufacturing such batteries, however, must be dealt with. Wind power and geothermal power have advantages and shortcomings, but location and seasonal restraints mean that it will be difficult for these options to be used universally.
Nuclear power, meanwhile, scares many people because it is widely associated with nuclear weapons, and we also lack a good method for handling radioactive waste. More serious, uranium supplies are limited, and if countries start to use large amounts of nuclear power, uranium supplies will soon be depleted.
The energy needed to extract usable uranium from low-grade uranium is too great and is not offset by the energy produced. Breeder reactors can solve the fuel problem, but because of worries that such reactors may be used in the production of nuclear bombs, the international community will not deregulate their use. Although closed breeder reactors could be used, it is very difficult to predict when that technology will be mature.
The method bringing the greatest practical economic benefit is to simply save energy. If, when we were children, we were taught the habit of saving energy, it would not be difficult to reduce energy use by 10 percent or 20 percent. Not only would this help solve energy shortages, it would also reduce personal expenditures, as well as national expenditures -- to the tune of billions of dollars in foreign currency.
By setting the air conditioner to 28oC instead of 23oC, we can reduce energy usage by 30 percent, and by buying a small car instead of a large one, we might cut the use of gasoline by half. By taking the bus we use even less gas. There is no need to have all the lights on in the evening or to use warm water when taking a shower during summer. Furthermore, walking shorter distances instead of taking the car is both healthy and a money-saver.
A large part of our energy is consumed by industry and business, and corporate leaders should be constantly thinking about how to move from energy-hungry manufacturing into the knowledge, service and cultural industries. Businesses that develop energy-saving home appliances, machinery and manufacturing processes will be highly profitable.
Although implementing taxes and price restrictions is the most effective strategy when trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption, such policies will meet with opposition from many quarters. Widespread promotion in the media will make the general public accept such policies.
Tsong Tien-tzou is a former director of the Institute of Physics at Academia Sinica and currently a fellow at Academia Sinica.
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