Dispatches From Taiwan: Powered By Determination And Pacific Winds
Tuesday was a long day; we left the hotel at 8AM and didn’t get back (with empty stomachs courtesy of no dinner, to boot!) until after 9PM. The companies we visited, located along the western side of the island, were several hours’ freeway drive away from northern-tip Taipei. On the morning journey south, we employed the country’s original Highway 1. Conversely, on the evening return trip we used the newer Highway 3, which closely parallels the Taiwan Strait shoreline.
Our group’s tour guide explained that Taiwan has limited within-country traditional power resources available to it; only a bit of both natural gas and thermal energy generation capability in the central mountainous region (unfortunately far away from energy-demanding population centers). As such, the country currently relies heavily on both coal and nuclear fuel imports. In striving both to reduce its greenhouse gas ‘footprint’ and its dependence on other countries for its power needs, Taiwan has made notable investments in wind power gear spanning the country’s west shore (where the bulk.of the population resides).
Take a look at these pictures I shot through the bus windows at various points during the day:
I know that my opinion isn’t universal, and I grant that it’s probably influenced by the fact that I don’t have to live or work nearby them on a regular basis, but I think wind turbines look so cool. By virtue of their prodigious size, these particular units rotate quite slowly and are therefore nearly silent. They usually rotate slowly, that is…our tour guide mentioned that one was recently destroyed by a typhoon (which might have looked something like this), at a replacement cost of $100 million TWD (~$3.3 million USD).
Speaking of the central mountains, the tallest peak in Taiwan is Yu Shan, commonly also called Jade Mountain. At 3,952 meters above the Pacific Ocean that surrounds it, Yu Shan is the world’s 27th most prominent peak. It’s a notable climb by virtue of its elevation, although the route reportedly isn’t particularly challenging. And judging from the many summit photos I’ve seen the last few days, it’s a common team-building exercise for Taiwanese companies! Here’s the gang from Universal Microelectronics on top:
The trailhead is at 2610 meters, and most folks overnight at Paiyun Lodge (3402 meters), continuing on in the middle of the night in order to claim the summit at sunrise of the second day. The climb sounds like a lot of fun; next time I’m here, I’ll try to extend my stay for a few days so that I can experience Yu Shan for myself.
