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.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
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