The Taichung City Government on Friday said it would enshrine its goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in a local ordinance.
It said that the ordinance would be introduced in the spirit of the COP26 climate summit, where world leaders in November last year agreed on a goal of cutting global emissions by 30 percent by 2030, with some countries setting later dates for themselves.
Although Taiwan did not participate in the UN summit, Taichung would require zero emissions from “energy production, industry, residential buildings, public transportation, agriculture and environmental sources” by 2050.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
The city would promote efficient energy use, the use of electric vehicles for public transportation, the development of sustainable energy sources and other policies to help achieve this goal, it said, adding that 136 countries and 234 cities worldwide were similarly working toward zero emissions goals.
Taichung first promoted the reduction of emissions in 2014 when it was developing a program to educate residents and local businesses about emissions reduction, Taichung Secretary-General Huang Chung-tien (黃崇典) said.
Taichung is seeking to improve links between different means of public transportation, including the new Green Line of its metropolitan railway system and rental bicycles, the city government said.
“Since then the city started making every effort to increase the use of green appliances in homes and public spaces, the use of renewable energy has grown fourfold,” Huang said. “We have also started operations on the MRT Green Line and have added 950 iBike bicycle sharing stations.”
Taichung has so far added 197 electric buses to its public transportation system, he said.
The electric scooter use rate in the city has also grown 224.6 percent since 2014, he said, adding that the city boasts 1,379 charging stations for electric vehicles.
The city government-built Shuinan Gateway Park (水湳經貿園區) serves as a demonstration center for zero emissions solutions, he said.
The park uses zero emissions facilities, smart equipment to reduce electricity consumption and houses a water recycling center that processes domestic sewage and produces potable water, he said.
Huang said that the city is also assessing options for the retirement of the coal-fired Taichung Power Plant in Longjing District (龍井), which is one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the world at a capacity of 5,500 megawatts.
The city is also focused on the transformation of its waste treatment facilities, the conservation of blue carbon sinks and afforestation as part of its zero carbon emissions goals, he said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese