Starting this year, car owners will have to make more environmentally friendly choices when they purchase new vehicles, the Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA) Air Quality Protection and Noise Control director-general, Hsiao Hui-chuan (蕭慧娟), said yesterday.
To help make the nation's air cleaner, the administration implemented the fourth stage of its motor vehicle emission standards yesterday, Hsiao said.
"We want to encourage everyone to buy cars that have low emissions, are fuel-efficient and possess good noise reduction systems," she said.
"The fourth stage of the regulations will see a heavy cut in greenhouse gas emissions from cars because it includes standards that are two-thirds stricter than the third stage in terms of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions will be enforced," Hsiao said.
The emissions allowance for newly manufactured or imported cars will be one-third of that of the third stage.
"In addition, all new or newly imported cars are required to come equipped with On Board Diagnostics [OBD] to monitor the vehicle's emissions [and relative pollution] levels," she said.
Current vehicle owners are not bound by the new regulations, she added.
OBD systems are computers that keep track of emission control elements in a vehicle, Hsiao said, adding that when part of a vehicle becomes defective, the system indicates the problem with warning lights on the car's dashboard.
In related news, starting yesterday a new law controlling low-frequency noises also came into force, Hsiao said.
Prior to the law's implementation, frequencies between 20Hz and 200Hz -- the kind of noise produced by air-conditioning units -- were unregulated, Hsiao said. She said in the short term, exposure to such sounds was not as serious as high-pitched noises, but prolonged exposure could produce adverse effects in people.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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