Government subsidies for hog farmers have helped turn the waste from nearly half the industry into biogas for power generation, resulting in a reduction of nearly 50,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.
The council has budgeted NT$12.83 billion (US$429.1 million) for the project over four years starting in 2021, with the funds to be spent on establishing cold-chain transportation between slaughterhouses and retail markets.
The funds would also go toward upgrading farming facilities and equipment to raise pigs, the council said.
Photo: CNA
About 3,600, or 60 percent of Taiwan’s 6,000 pig farms, have photovoltaic cells installed on their roofs, which, together with the solar power generation systems on chicken coops, increases the power generated by the animal husbandry sector to 3 megawatts, the council said.
The council has spent NT$4 billion on helping to refurbish 2,100 pig styes to ensure they are more environmentally friendly and geared toward turning animal waste into biogas, Department of Animal Husbandry Deputy Director Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全) said.
Academics have estimated that the council’s investments have helped reduce 48,039 tonnes of annual carbon emissions, the equivalent of the emissions of 148,451 scooters, Chiang said.
While Europe is the world leader in using animal waste as a source of green energy, Taiwan has made great strides and is the leading nation in Asia regarding such endeavors in the pig farming industry, he said.
Such progress is partly due to a growing acceptance of using green energy and advancements in biogas storage equipment, which have made it more resistant to corrosion and acceptable to hog farmers, Chiang said.
Efforts to make facilities more environmentally friendly are affecting market availability somewhat, as farms undergoing improvements house about 200,000 pigs, he said.
The availability of pork at markets would only be affected this year, Chiang said, adding that this is due to a shortage of constructors, many of which have been contracted to help build expansions for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
The pig farming industry should see a significant increase in availability and the number of new-born piglets next year, he said.
Three cases of Candida auris, a fungus that can cause a yeast infection known as candidiasis in humans, have been reported in Taiwan over the past few years, but they did not display drug resistance, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said yesterday. Lo made the statement at a news conference in Taipei, one day after the Washington Post reported that the potentially deadly fungus is spreading in US hospitals. The fungus was first discovered in Japan in 2009 and poses a danger to immunocompromised people, with an estimated mortality rate of 30 to 60 percent, Lo
‘COINCIDENCE’: The former president should keep in mind local and global response to his actions and abide by the law to safeguard national interests, the MAC said The Presidential Office yesterday confirmed that it has received an application from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to visit China next week and would be discussing his security detail. “As the travel restrictions on former president Ma have expired, we respect his plan to pay respect to his ancestors in China,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said. “We will review his travel plan and consult concerned agencies to assist him in arranging his security detail.” “We also hope that Ma, as a former commander in chief of Taiwan, acts in a manner that aligns with national interests and does not hurt
‘DIRE’: Taiwan would not engage in ‘dollar diplomacy,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, after China reportedly offered Honduras up to US$3 billion to establish relations The government yesterday recalled its ambassador to Honduras after the Central American nation sent its foreign minister to China, signaling that it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Suspicions concerning ties with Honduras are rife after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday last week wrote on Twitter that her country would pursue diplomatic ties with China. Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina traveled to China on Wednesday “to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations” on instructions from Castro, Reuters yesterday quoted Honduran presidential spokesman Ivis Alvarado as saying. The government “has decided to immediately recall the ambassador to Honduras
‘NOTHING NEW’: China should not use Tsai Ing-wen’s transits through the US as a pretext to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait, a Washington official said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to stop over in the US on her way to and from Central America next week, but her administration would not confirm a meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Tsai’s delegation is to leave Taipei on Wednesday next week and stop over in New York City, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) told a news conference yesterday. Tsai is then to head to Guatemala on Saturday next week for talks with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and to meet with Taiwanese expatriates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. On April 3, Tsai is scheduled to travel
RSS