At the Cabinet's weekly meeting Thursday, Premier Cho Jung-tai received a Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) briefing on a program to promote deep energy saving. The premier said energy service companies (ESCOs) play an important role in helping businesses achieve the twin goals of energy saving and carbon reduction, and he thus instructed the MOEA to focus on ESCOs as key drivers of deep energy saving. He also asked the MOEA to continue expanding its subsidy program for home appliance purchases, which encourages people to replace old appliances with new ones that meet Taiwan's highest energy efficiency labeling standards.
Premier Cho said that energy saving helps enhance energy independence and strengthens the resilience of nations and businesses; furthermore energy efficiency is classified by the International Energy Agency as the strategy with the greatest potential for moving toward net-zero carbon emissions. Achieving the goal of net zero will involve comprehensive transformations in production and lifestyles, the premier said, and he instructed the MOEA and other ministries and agencies to work with the private sector and the public to accelerate the promotion of energy saving and net-zero related efforts.