Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁)

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) Taiwan is considering banning the burning of fossil fuels for energy by 2050 as the government continues its ongoing efforts to reduce air pollution, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said on Saturday.

During his speech at a forum to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Chen discussed Taiwan's heavy reliance on fossil fuels, which account for about 45 percent of the country's energy, but said the government will continue to try and refine the process for burning fossil fuels to make it as clean as possible.

Unlike other countries such as France and Holland which have also vowed to ban fossil fuel production and use, Taiwan cannot depend on nuclear energy or hydroelectricity as a source of energy, the vice president said.

The timeline for closing fossil fuel power plants could be 2050, he added.

According to the vice president, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are working on plans to reduce the amount of pollution from CPC Corp., Taiwan, China Steel Corp., and Taiwan Power Co.

However, improvements to air quality take time -- they do not happen in a day -- and the government is doing everything possible to make this a reality, Chen noted.

Taiwan has a responsibility to protect the environment in the region the vice president said, urging the public to push the government to do better in this field.

(By Wu Hsin-yun and Kuan-lin Liu)
Enditem/AW