Known as the battlefield for the 823 Artillery Bombardment during the Chinese Civil War, Kinmen County is known as the nation’s military outpost.
However, the county has also established a reputation as a role model for environmental practices, developing “green” transportation and establishing a power grid that stores and supplies energy from renewable sources, among other initiatives.
Thus, the island county was an ideal location for an annual award ceremony last month commending hard-working sanitation workers from across the nation — a gala held by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to pay homage to more than 200 cleaners who have gone beyond the call of duty to help keep the country clean.
Award recipient Tien Wen-chung (田文忠), 43, is a cleaner at the Greater Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau, like his father before him.
Tien said his responsibilities include collecting garbage from elderly residents and maintaining the environment of Greater Taichung’s Hoping District (和平).
Tien said waste removal is a tough job that involves working odd hours and being exposed to diseases.
“When I was little, I used to think my father smelled bad and avoided him. It wasn’t until I became a cleaner myself that I realized that my father was a great man,” he said. “Now, I tell my five children to nod at cleaners whenever they see them.”
Tien started his career as a part-time cleaner for the city government, becoming a full-time employee on Oct. 1, 1997.
“That day, I sat beside my father’s bed in hospital. Due to an illness, he had been in a coma for several days. I said to him: ‘Father, I am a full-time employee now.’ Upon hearing the news, he gently put his hand on mine, then slid back into unconsciousness, but I knew he could hear me. He passed away two weeks later,” he said.
EPA Deputy Minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) said: “Unlike firefighters and police officers, whose work is well known by the public, sanitation workers are the unsung heroes of society, who brave harsh conditions to maintain the cityscape.”
He said that in the past, soldiers stationed on Kinmen attended to keeping the environment clean, but with demilitarization, the hard work of civilian cleaners had kept the county as clean as ever.
“They have made Kinmen a role model in terms of environmental practices and deserve respect and commendation,” he said.
The day after last month’s award ceremony, the award recipients took a ferry to Lieyu Township (列嶼), which comprises a cluster of islets, to learn about eco-friendly infrastructure in the area, including the promotion of electric scooters and a micro power grid that stores and supplies energy from renewable sources, introduced by the EPA as part of the Kinmen low-carbon island project.
The scooters, developed by Taiwan-based China Motor Corp, have a maximum speed of 45kph and can reverse with the push of a button.
Despite their slower speed, the scooters are equipped with engines that pack powerful torques and take uphill terrain fairly well.
Under a Ministry of Economic Affairs subsidy plan passed in May, people living on Taiwan proper who purchase a ministry-inspected light-duty electric scooter are eligible for a subsidy of NT$10,000 (US$333), while those living in outlying island counties can receive NT20,000.
In addition, to promote green transportation, the EPA has teamed up with CityPower Taiwan Co to set up 30 battery exchange stations for plug-in scooters in New Taipei City and Greater Kaohsiung.
The micro power grid, which is located in a room the size of a minivan at the heart of Lieyu Township, stores solar energy with the help of solar panels and also taps into wind energy, which makes up a small part of its output capacity.
According to Hsu Jen-tse (許仁澤), a senior EPA engineer who is on the Kinmen zero-carbon project team, the system is capable of storing 3kW of wind energy and 45kW of solar energy, from which it is able to supply about 15 local households with 120kW an hour of electricity every day, covering about 70 percent of their daily electricity consumption.
The micro power grid employs recycled lead-acid and lithium batteries, and the testing of hydrogen fuel cells is under way, Hsu said.
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