Environment

Taiwan’s green efforts showcased at UN summit

Taiwan Today
Date: December 2, 2015

An exhibition showcasing Taiwan’s achievements in promoting carbon reductions through

Delta Electronics Inc. has constructed 21 green buildings in the past decade, including Taiwan’s first diamond-grade green production facility at the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan City. (UDN)

green architecture is set to kick off Dec. 4 on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change taking place in Paris, according to organizer Delta Electronics Inc.

Highlighting the diverse range of eco-friendly buildings the firm has constructed over the last 10 years for educational, industrial and residential purposes, the exhibit will underscore Taiwan’s pioneering efforts to minimize its carbon footprint via smart architecture, said Bruce Cheng, founder of the Taipei City-based electronics company.

“This exhibition marks a new milestone for Delta’s participation in UNFCCC-related events over the last eight years,” Cheng said. “We have demonstrated that by making our architecture green, we have been able to reduce energy use by 80 percent, with the remaining 20 percent capable of sustaining operations. [FULL STORY]

Poor air quality in Southern Taiwan hits the roof

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-29
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) advised

Air quality in Southern Taiwan remains poor. Central News Agency

residents with chronic lung problems and heart diseases to limit their outdoor activities in Southern Taiwan as air quality in the area will remain extremely poor in the next few days, reports said Sunday.

Districts in Changhua’s Erlin, Tainan’s Hsinyin, and Kaohsiung’s Fengshan and Zuoying are currently witnessing dangerously high levels of PM 2.5 due to a lack of wind to disperse pollutants, according to CWB weather forecast center director Cheng Ming-dean, the

“The key indicator measuring levels of the pollutant PM 2.5 has reached purple, or level 10,” he said. [FULL STORY]

Poor air quality caused by local pollutants: official

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/26
By: Yeh Tzu-kang and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) The high concentration of pollutants found in the air over Taiwan recently originated from local sources, an official said Thursday.

Between late October and mid-November, there were many days in which fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) reached unhealthy levels in central and southern Taiwan, said Chang Chiao-wei (張喬維), acting director-general of Yunlin County’s Environmental Protection Bureau.

Chang said one of the reasons behind the problem was a lack of wind to disperse the pollution on the western coast, as this season’s prevailing easterly wind has been blocked by the central mountain range. [FULL STORY]

Prosecutors charge six for dumping industrial waste

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 23, 2015
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday charged six people with

An excavator on Saturday digs out barrels of industrial waste that were buried on a plot of farmland in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District. Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Taipei Times

allegedly dumping 54 tonnes of industrial waste on farmland in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹).

Prosecutors and the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday raided a site in Lujhu and found 284 barrels of industrial waste.

The barrels each held about 189 liters of a black sludge of unknown origin. Prosecutors said tests would be conducted to determine the exact contents of the barrels.

Forty more barrels filled with an unidentified substance were uncovered when investigators excavated the site, prosecutors said, adding that some of the liquid had seeped out of the containers to contaminate the soil. [FULL STORY]

EPA says VW cheating software is on more vehicles

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-21
By: TOM KRISHER,MICHAEL BIESECKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal widened Friday

EPA says VW cheating software is on more vehicles. Associated Press

after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the German automaker used software to cheat on pollution tests on more six-cylinder diesel vehicles than originally thought.

Volkswagen told the EPA and the California Air Resources Board the software is on about 85,000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles with 3-liter engines going back to the 2009 model year. Earlier this month the regulators accused VW of installing the so-called “defeat device” software on about 10,000 cars from the 2014 through 2016 model years, in violation of the Clean Air Act.

The regulators said in a statement they will investigate and take appropriate action on the software, which they claim allowed the six-cylinder diesels to emit fewer pollutants during tests than in real-world driving. [FULL STORY]

EPA to impose stiffer emission rules for diesel trucks, buses

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-18
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Diesel trucks and buses that spew black exhaust fumes will soon be regulated

EPA to impose stiffer emission rules. Central News Agency

and restricted from entering the island’s scenic areas and other specified locations after failing their emission tests, according to the Environmental Protection Administration on Wednesday.

Stiffer inspections will be carried out as part of the government’s efforts to lower air pollution levels in towns and cities, the EPA said.

Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Chen Hsien-heng said the new set of rules is primarily targeted at older diesel trucks and buses as exhaust inspections on heavy-duty diesel engines were fairly relaxed in the past.

“The plan is to have a set of emission grades where those having passed a certain emission standard will be handed a specific approval sticker issued by the EPA,” he said. [FULL STORY]

NGC highlights Taiwan’s e-waste recycling prowess

Taiwan Today
Date: November 18, 2015

A documentary showcasing Taiwan’s world-leading e-waste recycling capabilities

MOFA Deputy Minister Vanessa Shih (fourth left) and EPA Minister Wei Kuo-yen (third left) promote an NGC documentary showcasing Taiwan’s e-waste management prowess Nov. 17 in Taipei City. (CNA)

will debut on the National Geographic Channel Nov. 22 in Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Jointly produced by MOFA and NGC, “Megastructures: Urban Mine” highlights the state-of-the-art facility of Super Dragon Technology Co. Ltd. in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City.

Built using reclaimed materials and jointly developed with Taipei City-based Miniwiz Sustainable Energy Development Co. Ltd., the facility is able to recycle 99 percent of all e-waste, extracting such precious metals as gold, platinum and silver in the process.

At a Nov. 17 conference in Taipei City, MOFA Vice Minister Vanessa Shih said the program will help audiences better understand the achievements and contributions of the ROC’s public and private sectors in combating climate change. [FULL STORY]

Taichung to set standard of procedure to curb air pollution

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-16
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The city government will soon establish a standard operating procedure to adjust power output

Taichung seeks to curb air pollution. Central News Agency

when air pollution reaches a certain level, Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung said Monday.

A draft operating procedure suggested by the government proposes reducing emissions from coal-fired plants when more than half of the city’s 11 air quality monitoring stations report purple PM2.5 levels, he said.

Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), the plant’s operator, said that it agreed to the city government’s proposal to adjust power output when air pollution reaches a certain level.

The country’s 10-tier PM 2.5 index (10 being dangerously high) is defined as air pollution that contains fine particles smaller than 2.5 millimeters in diameter and is linked to several chronic health problems. [FULL STORY]

Climate change aggravates El Niño, threatens global agriculture output

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-23
By: Jocylin FC, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2015 tropical cyclone season is supercharged due to the combined impact of

Global warming threatens agriculture output. Associated Press

natural climate cycles, global warming and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The records of 21 hurricanes and typhoons have shattered the previous records. The Central Weather Bureau just released a warning for the upcoming typhoon number 26. On October 21, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their research data which stated September 2015 was the warmest such month for Planet Earth since such data began in 1880. El Niño only worsens the effect of global warming on various countries.

El Niño, an irregular periodic climate change caused by variations in sea surface temperature over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, provided storms and typhoon with a sufficient amount of fuel in the form of warm ocean waters across the tropical Pacific. A research scientist at Colorado State University Philip Klotzbach said that the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), an index that measures both a storm’s intensity and its lifespan, has indicated that the index across parts of the Pacific is off the charts. El Niño of the year 2015 is believed to be the strongest ever recorded. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan has nowhere to run in face of climate change

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-22
By: Jocylin FC, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan is a small island country with 23 million inhabitants, threatened by climate change. Global warming concerns have become an important new challenge in Taiwan. Although Taiwan handed in the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) autonomously, the island country is barred from the UN’s climate change talk due to diplomatic isolation. Taiwan pledged to reduce its 2030 carbon emissions by 50 percent, thus making the target 20 percent lower than the 2005 level, which is 214 million tons. Despite China’s aggressive opposition, Taiwan is determined to participate in the 2015 Paris Accord for no one should left behind.

On October 16, British Office in Taiwan and Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE) organized a roundtable discussion on International Climate Dialogue beyond the 2015 Paris Accord. The discussion was aimed to bring out concrete dialogue with a political-economic perspective. Speakers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Carbon Trust (Asia), the French Office in Taiwan, AIT Economic Section, and the German Office in Taipei contributed their ideas to the conference. [FULL STORY]

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