Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday the government will focus on research and development in green energy, smart grids and energy storage equipment in its push to cut carbon emissions.

“Long-term carbon reduction relies on new technologies to produce more breakthroughs,” Tsai said at a sustainability forum to mark Earth Day.

“Taiwan’s industries are export-oriented. We need to break into the global green supply chain,” she added.

Taiwan said last year it intended to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and the government has pledged to spend NT$900 billion ($30.7 billion) by 2030 towards that end.

This week, the cabinet approved a draft amendment of climate legislation that includes the 2050 net-zero goal and the introduction of a carbon pricing scheme.

Tsai said that by 2050, renewable energy should account for more than 60% of Taiwan’s power supply, while hydrogen should account for around 10% and thermal power generation with carbon capture around 20%.

By comparison, in 2020, coal provided 45% of Taiwan’s electricity while liquefied natural gas provided around 36%, government data shows.

Fuente: Reuters