ABSTRACT
Taiwan is vulnerable to high energy prices and market distortions in the world energy market because only a small fossil fuel stock is found in Taiwan and most of Taiwan’s energy is imported [1]. To enhance Taiwan’s energy security, there is interest for the Taiwanese to produce energy on its own. In addition to the energy insecurity, another serious challenge facing Taiwan is climate change. According to the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [2], the Earth is warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and its temperature is very likely to increase in the next decades. Such warming would have consequences ranging from increased desertification, a rise in the ocean
level to the possible increased occurrences of hurricanes, which may bring potential significant damages to Taiwan. As the 25th largest CO2 emissions country [3], Taiwan is willing to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate global climate shift to avoid unwelcome climate impacts, once the energy security issue is resolved. Renewable energy sources that can potentially substitute fossil fuels and provide some of the domestic energy supply include wind and solar energy, hydro-power, geothermal energy and bioenergy [4]. Among these renewable energy alternatives, Taiwan has been developing bioenergy for several years. Geographically, Taiwan’s land area is about 14,000 square miles with 67% of that land being mountainous. Land is a scarce resource in Taiwan and has been intensively utilized in various ways. From this point of view, Taiwan would not be able to produce bioenergy because a substantial amount of land is required for bioenergy production. However, participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) offers a possibility of development of bioenergy in Taiwan because Taiwan’s agricultural sector is less competitive and part of Taiwan’s agricultural land has been idle. Net idled cropland has increased from 68,000 hectares to 280,000 hectares, which provides a potential stock of land for bioenergy feedstock production [1].
