Sat, Dec 29, 2007 page2

• Power firms sign emissions pact

  PROACTIVE Ten private and public power companies signed voluntary agreements with the government to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12 million tonnes by 2015

  • By Meggie Lu / STAFF REPORTER
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  The country's private and public power companies yesterday vowed to become more environmentally friendly while taking part in a ceremony to highlight the achievements of the energy industry in greenhouse gas management.

  At the ceremony, Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) signed voluntary agreements with 10 private and public power companies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12 million tonnes by 2015.

  "The reduction in greenhouse gases would be equivalent to what 12,860 Da-an Forest Parks could absorb," he said.

  "Though Taiwan isn't in the UN, we are part of the global village," Bureau of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Hsiao Hui-chuan (蕭慧娟) said. "I am most happy to see the business sector being proactive in climate change prevention, since it affects all mankind."

  Though the administration's greenhouse gas reduction law did not pass before the legislative session closed, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is working rigorously to fight global warming, she said.

  The current priority for the EPA and Bureau of Energy (BOE) is to quantify and register carbon emission amounts for all businesses, she said.

  Last year the bureau launched an anti-global warming effort called the "energy industry voluntary greenhouse gas reduction plan," BOE Director-General Yeh Huey-ching (葉惠青) said at the ceremony.

  Since then, four power plants have quantified their carbon emissions and completed a reduction plan that complies with stringent International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) guidelines, and obtained ISO 14064-2 certification, he said.

  ISO 14064-2 certification is an international standard for reporting emissions at the project level.

  CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol for developed countries to invest in carbon reduction projects in developing countries instead of in their home countries [to produce the same reduction effect while saving on cost], he said.

  Taiwan Power Co's (台電) Tai-chung plant, CPC's (台灣中油) Tao-yuan refinery, Taipower's Tunghsiao plant (通霄) and Taipower's Hsin-ta plant (興達) were all lauded yesterday for their achievements.

  Those with the certification can then log their emission amounts for future trading purposes, Yeh said.

  Yeh said that the BOE had had a fruitful two years since the launch of the voluntary reduction plan because most power companies are now under carbon emission monitoring.

  "Currently 83 percent of all power companies in Taiwan have completed their carbon emission quantification and registrations," Yeh said.

  Fifteen power plants have obtained ISO 14064-1 certification, an international standard for reporting emissions at the organizational level, he said.

  Ten of the plants obtained certification this year and received award certificates from Yeh at the ceremony.

  "Though it is not yet a law in Taiwan, carbon reduction is a global trend; I urge all businesses to follow suit and register their emissions as soon as possible," Yeh said.
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