Climate change and global warming have been paid great attention by all the nations. Following the unmistakable trend of energy conservation, the "Public Sector's Energy-Saving Action Plan" was approved by the Executive Yuan on November 28, 2016. Governments and schools aim to achieve the target of increasing electricity usage efficiency by 4% within the next four years. Meanwhile, the fuel consumption should remain at the same level without growth compared to the level in 2015. It is hoped that the conservation actions can be strengthened in private organizations through governments' leadership. With the citizen participation, the goal of energy transformation can be achieved.
In accordance with the international conservation strategy, the action plan is formulated based on the spirit of "common but differentiated responsibilities". The public sector is required to use Energy Usage Index (EUI), kwh/m2 to measure energy performance. Taking 2015 as the base year, public sector should try to reduce electricity consumption and attain the baseline EUI by 2019. If the 2015 EUI of the facility has been lower than the baseline EUI, the target would be keeping the electricity consumption at the same level as that in 2015.
Besides, five major strategies and 70 measures for electricity conservation have been implemented as reference for public sector so that the goals in action plans can be achieved. The five major strategies include strengthening energy conservation management, intellectualization of data center, upgrading electrical equipment efficiency, implementing energy-saving measures and promoting energy conservation propaganda in education.
In addition, Energy Conservation Promotion Group is set up by agencies and the head of executive authorities would be the conveners of this group. The energy-saving administrators assigned by conveners would organize the energy-saving working teams and supervise team members fulfilling the responsibilities. Action plans require all non-energy-saving lamps, such as traditional ferromagnetic ballast fluorescent lamps, etc., be replaced by T5 or LED and other energy-saving lamps by the end of 2019. In accordance with the National Development Council's policy, new IT data centers should be established with optimized energy use while the existing IT data centers should be equipped with independent meters tracking electricity consumption so that the purpose of intelligent management can be fulfilled.
Public sector may also refer to the energy conservation counseling resources provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and related authorities to accelerating reaching the targets. For example, the Bureau of Energy (BOE) has established channels for energy-saving technical consultation and learning resources to facilitate the authorities to reach the goals. Besides, the on-site energy-saving diagnostic services for energy efficiency improvement are provided. Moreover, Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) demonstration program is available so that the old air conditioners and lightings would be replaced with more energy-efficient electronic equipment through financial subsidies. The "Energy Efficiency Uplifting for Existing Buildings" program implemented by the Ministry of the Interior provides funding for energy-saving improvement for existing governments, schools and hospitals buildings. Furthermore, Taiwan Power Company would provide agencies assistance in establishing low-voltage smart meters so that the capacity for self-energy management can be enhanced.
Since 2008, the public sector has been implementing energy conservation measures. The "Four Saving Action" program aiming to save electricity, fuel, water and paper was approved by the Executive Yuan in 2011. It increases the awareness of energy conservation and develops right attitudes for energy-saving in daily life. Up to the year of 2015, the impressive saving rates for electricity, fuel and water consumption compared to the 2007 levels were 10.7%, 16.6% and 22.2% respectively. Not only the expected targets are achieved, but better-than-national-average performances are reached. With regard to paper consumption, the usage rate for the online documents instead of printing has reached 74.2%, which is much higher than the original target of 40% set up by the program. The great performances have shown the persistent determination and continual efforts in promoting the energy conservation by governments.
Following the "Four Saving Action" program, MOEA launched a slogan "Using if there is need, Saving if there is no need, Using in an appropriate way". Based on the principle, the flexibility for public sector is preserved and the hierarchical supervision is formulated so that the works of saving electricity and fuels can be implemented. It is also expected that the action plans can become the models to engage all citizens and private sector in the conservation works.
Spokesperson for Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs:Deputy Director-General, Chun-Li Lee
Phone Number:+886-2-2775-7702
Mobile:+886-936-250-838
Email:cllee@moeaboe.gov.tw
Media Contact:Director, Shu-Fang Kao
Phone Number:+886-2-2775-7773
Mobile:+886-918-400-668
Email:sfkao@moeaboe.gov.tw
Technical Advisory Contact:Section Chief, Fang-Ling Liao
Phone Number:+886-2-2775-7771
Mobile:+886-912-089-923
Email:flliao@moeaboe.gov.tw