Taiwan’s air quality reached unhealthy levels on 45 days this year, down from 177 last year, but higher than 2020’s record low of 15, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said on Tuesday.
Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Tsai Meng-yu (蔡孟裕) attributed this year’s improvement to an increase in rain and less pollution from overseas.
The concentration of PM2.5 — airborne particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or less — was 12.5 micrograms per cubic meter (mcg/m3) on average during the first 11 months of the year, the first time the figure has dropped below 13mcg/m3, the EPA told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
The improvement in local pollution control was far better than expected, with pollutants reduced by 82 percent, surpassing the original target of 60 percent, Tsai said.
The government policies that helped to curb pollution included replacing coal-fired boilers with gas-fired ones at some state-run companies and incentives that removed 1.68 million high-emission motorcycles from Taiwan’s roads from January to last month, he said.
Pollutants blown in from China have dropped 20 to 30 percent so far this year, while there was also more rain in areas north of Miaoli County compared with previous years, Tsai said.
With the EPA’s four-year air pollution control program set to expire next year, the agency is working to introduce new goals, including stricter monitoring of central and southern Taiwan, as well as further reducing ozone across Taiwan.
The current NT$51 billion (US$1.66 billion) program aimed at keeping the country’s annual PM2.5 levels below 15mcg/m3 has been successful, the EPA said, adding that the PM2.5 figures were 14.1 mcg/m3 in 2020 and 14.4 mcg/m3 last year.
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