The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday said it would amend the Haloalkane Consumption Management Act (氟氯烴消費量管理辦法) this year so the country’s haloalkane (HCFC) consumption would be reduced to 25 percent of the amount consumed in 1989 by next year.
“Recently, Academia Sinica proved that chlorofluorocarbons [CFCs], a family of HCFC, is the main chemical in the air responsible for ozone depletion, and that chlorine peroxide damages the ozone layer at a faster rate than scientists previously thought,” said Yang Ching-shi (楊慶熙), EPA director-general of supervision evaluation and dispute resolution.
The Academia Sinica study, which was published earlier this month in the journal Science, shows that a small amount of CFCs — commonly used as refrigerants, foam agents, aerosol propellants or solvents — can cause a chain reaction that rapidly damages the ozone layer.
When CFCs are released into the air, the chlorine element is separated from the rest of the CFC compound, the study said. When chlorine mixes with ozone, it tears one oxygen atom away to form oxygen and chloroxine, the study said, adding that when two molecules of chloroxine combine, they form chlorine peroxide, which absorbs sunlight and breaks down into more chlorine atoms, beginning a chain reaction that depletes the ozone layer.
“Although we cannot sign the Montreal Protocol [signed after the 1985 discovery that the ozone layer was being depleted] because of political considerations, we have followed Montreal Protocol regulations since 1989,” Yang said.
In 1994, Taiwan started regulating the import or manufacture of products containing HCFCs, Yang said, adding that in 2004, the EPA began cutting HCFC consumption levels down to 65 percent of the amount consumed in 1989.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
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