The potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement in reducing CO2 emissions in Taiwan

The growing concerns over the global warming and energy security problems in Taiwan have led the government to design and promote renewable energy policies more aggressively over the past decade. This paper aims at examining to what extent the renewable-energy policies will contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions in Taiwan. Our analysis results, using a specific CGE model, show that simply setting targets for the electricity generated by renewable energy is not sufficient to meet the reduction targets for CO2 emissions set forth in the GGRA. Additional measures, especially improving energy efficiency and imposing a carbon tax, are necessary in order to stabilise CO2 emissions for Taiwan in the remote future.