Cross-Strait Experts Discussed 21st Century Resources At NCKU
Tainan, Taiwan, July 21st, 2011
The 1st Cross-Strait and 5th Conference on Resources Engineering was held from July 21st to 22nd in the International Conference Hall of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), with nearly 100 experts and scholars from mainland China and Taiwan participating.
A total of 150 research papers from 8 categories in resources engineering, including 16 papers from engineering geology and rock mechanics, 11 papers from rock materials, 33 papers from resources recycling, 18 papers from environment and resources, 5 papers from resource economics and management, 9 papers from tourism and special information, 26 papers from energy related themes and 32 papers from water resource development and management, were presented in the conference.
“Taiwan’s annual usage of water has reached approximately 19 billion tons per year, approaching the 20 billion tons limit of natural water resource,” said NCKU President Hwung-Hweng Hwung in his opening remark. “Resource issues should not longer be limited to exploitation and recycling and they must include efficient management and sustainable development.”
According to Jiang-Guo Yu, Vice President of East China University of Science and Technology, mainland China, the living standard in mainland China has significantly improved in the past 30 years, but resources such as rock, petroleum and coal have been rapidly consumed. China is currently suffering from a serious shortage of minerals such as copper, aluminum, and, especially, steel.
“The recycling of waste produced by large consumption of resources has captured the attention of the academia in mainland China,” said Jiang-Guo Yu. “Thus the Ministry of Education has approved 10 schools to establish resource recycling science and engineering courses to cultivate related talents.”
Syd Peng, a professor from the Department of Mining Engineering at West Virginia University and one of the keynote speakers, has also shared some of the latest data on coal usage in the United States.
In 2006, the usage of coal in the United States occupied 41% among the use of all resources, while gas occupied 20.1% and hydro occupied 16%. Up till February, 2011, the usage of coal grew to 45.9%, followed by nuclear energy which occupied 20.4%.
“The United States has a population of approximately 310 million and each person consumes 1.69 kg of coal each year,” added Syd Peng.
He also explained that it is practically impossible to replace coal because 1,950 nuclear power plants and 3,800 Hoover Dams have to be built.
The United States currently has 120 nuclear power plants. Since a power plant takes at least 10 to 15 years to build, it is impossible to replace coal in the next 30 or 40 years.
The 1st Cross-Strait and 5th Conference on Resources Engineering was held from July 21st to 22nd in the International Conference Hall of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), with nearly 100 experts and scholars from mainland China and Taiwan participating.
A total of 150 research papers from 8 categories in resources engineering, including 16 papers from engineering geology and rock mechanics, 11 papers from rock materials, 33 papers from resources recycling, 18 papers from environment and resources, 5 papers from resource economics and management, 9 papers from tourism and special information, 26 papers from energy related themes and 32 papers from water resource development and management, were presented in the conference.
“Taiwan’s annual usage of water has reached approximately 19 billion tons per year, approaching the 20 billion tons limit of natural water resource,” said NCKU President Hwung-Hweng Hwung in his opening remark. “Resource issues should not longer be limited to exploitation and recycling and they must include efficient management and sustainable development.”
According to Jiang-Guo Yu, Vice President of East China University of Science and Technology, mainland China, the living standard in mainland China has significantly improved in the past 30 years, but resources such as rock, petroleum and coal have been rapidly consumed. China is currently suffering from a serious shortage of minerals such as copper, aluminum, and, especially, steel.
“The recycling of waste produced by large consumption of resources has captured the attention of the academia in mainland China,” said Jiang-Guo Yu. “Thus the Ministry of Education has approved 10 schools to establish resource recycling science and engineering courses to cultivate related talents.”
Syd Peng, a professor from the Department of Mining Engineering at West Virginia University and one of the keynote speakers, has also shared some of the latest data on coal usage in the United States.
In 2006, the usage of coal in the United States occupied 41% among the use of all resources, while gas occupied 20.1% and hydro occupied 16%. Up till February, 2011, the usage of coal grew to 45.9%, followed by nuclear energy which occupied 20.4%.
“The United States has a population of approximately 310 million and each person consumes 1.69 kg of coal each year,” added Syd Peng.
He also explained that it is practically impossible to replace coal because 1,950 nuclear power plants and 3,800 Hoover Dams have to be built.
The United States currently has 120 nuclear power plants. Since a power plant takes at least 10 to 15 years to build, it is impossible to replace coal in the next 30 or 40 years.
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