The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday demanded that the coal-fired Ho-Ping Power plant in Hualien County submit additional documents for further environmental review over its request to increase coal imports from Australia.
The agency made the remarks after an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee convened earlier in the day to discuss the plant’s plan to import more Australian coal.
The plant has been searching for new sources of coal since a self-imposed ban on coal imports from Russia and Indonesia’s ban on coal exports have reduced the nation’s coal supplies.
Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei Times
The plan to import more Australian coal would be necessary to maintain the plant’s operations, it said.
Over the past decade, Australia exported 42.4 percent of the world’s coal, while 43.4 percent came from Indonesia, 14 percent from Russia and 2 percent from South Africa, the plant said.
The plant requested more flexibility in coal sources to ensure a stable supply of electricity, as coal that produces medium to low levels of the particulate pollutant coal ash is difficult to source.
The plant estimates that the firing process of Australian coal, which contains a high level of coal ash, would lead to a one-third increase of bottom ash and fly ash byproduct.
It requested the coal ash cap be raised from 12 percent to 16 percent, adding that the additional bottom ash and fly ash byproduct would be reused by the nearby Hoping Cement Plant to minimize the environmental impact.
However, EIA committee members stated that as pollutants increase, the plant would need more electricity and vehicles to remove the waste, which would contribute to carbon emissions.
The committee added that it was concerned about the impact of heavy metal contamination on local health and the environment, as the amount of lead and cadmium contained in Australian coal is still not entirely known.
The committee asked the plant to submit a report analyzing the different types of coal and their respective environmental impacts.
To modify an already approved EIA, the plant would need to show that the total amount of pollutants would not increase when using more Australian coal.
If the committee approves the plant’s report, the plan would then need to be accepted by the EPA before being adopted.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe