The government is to raise the air quality standard in central and southern Taiwan after air pollution prevention measures enforced over the past seven years have demonstrated success in reducing the mean concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the two regions, the Ministry of Environment said yesterday.
The ministry issued a statement after the Southern Taiwan Anti-Air Pollution Alliance held a protest in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Protesters said that they have a right to breathe clean air just as much as residents in other parts of the country and demanded that the government honor that right by stopping coal burning at the Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
The national mean concentration of PM2.5 had reduced from 20mg/m2 in 2016 to 13.9mg/m2 last month, while the mean concentration of PM2.5 in central and southern Taiwan had fallen from 23.7mg/m2 to 16.4mg/m2, the ministry said, citing data collected from its air quality observation stations.
Air quality in both categories showed a 30 percent improvement, the ministry said.
Phase I of the Air Pollution Prevention action plan, which has been implemented since 2020, has tackled air pollution from pollutants emitted from factories, motor vehicles, construction sites and other sources, the ministry said.
The most significant results were shown in state-run companies under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which have introduced measures to mitigate air pollution caused by the companies, the ministry said.
Overall, pollutants emitted from Taichung Power Plant, Hsinta Power Plant, China Steel Corp and CSBC Corp have decreased by more than 50 percent, it said.
Air pollutants emitted from coal-fired Taichung and Hsinta Power Plants dropped more than 60 percent, due to a reduction in the amount of coal burned by more than 7 million tonnes and the enhanced efficiency of equipment used to curb air pollution, the ministry said.
Of the four coal-fired power generators in Hsinta Power Plant, the No. 1 generator was discharged in September and the No. 2 generator is to retire by the end of this year, while the No. 3 and No. 4 generators would become backup generators and would not be reactivated until power operating reserves drops below 8 percent, it said. Since 2016, the ministry has helped retire 70,000 old and large diesel-powered vehicles, while the number of old motorbikes has dropped from 6.98 million in 2007 to 2.66 million this year, it said.
Local governments across the country helped create 63 air quality maintenance zones to curb air pollution stemming from the transportation system, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, chromium, arsenic and cadmium in the concentration of PM2.5 decreased by 39 percent, 58 percent and 60 percent from 2017 to last year, respectively.
The Phase II Air Pollution Prevention action plan, which is to be implemented from next year to 2027, has been approved in October by the National development Council and awaits approval from the Executive Yuan.
The goal is to further reduce the mean concentration of PM2.5 in central and southern Taiwan to 15mg/m2, the ministry said.
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS