Taiwan has plans to replace all of the traffic lights on the island, with the total number to be approximately 700,000, with energy-saving LED lights by 2011, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Thursday, as a part of the government's ambitious green energy industries development project to be implemented by 2015.

The government has launched the project with the purpose of turning the green energy sector into a new NT$1 trillion (US$29.59 billion) industrial sector, following the initial semiconductor manufacturing industry and optoelectronic industry which took off separately in the 1980s and 1990s.

"By 2015, the green energy sector is expected to create 110,000 jobs in Taiwan each year," said Yiin Chii-ming, the Minister of Economic Affairs.

The project proposed by the MOEA has been approved by Executive Yuan earlier Thursday. Under the project, NT$25 billion will be invested over the next five years to develop renewable energy and to subsidize the general installation of energy-saving devices in government offices, business and private homes. And  additional NT$20 billion will be spent to support research and development of green energy technologies, which is expected to in turn draw NT$200 billion in private investment in the industry. The project will focus on solar energy, LED lighting, wind power, biomass fuel, hydrogen power, fuel cells, electric vehicles, energy information and communication technology.