Taiwan’s Carbon Fee Program Takes Off
Taiwan will launch a carbon fee program for large emitters in 2026, aiming to balance environmental goals with industrial competitiveness while progressing toward its 2050 net-zero target.
environment
Micron is Working to Enable a Sustainable Future for All
The global trend toward sustainability and carbon reduction in industrial operations has attracted a growing number of companies in recent years. Significant among these enthusiastic new boosters for sustainable production are major firms in the semiconductor sector, one of the world’s most resource-intensive industries. Micron, a U.S.-headquartered manufacturer of computer memory and data storage products,…
Ever Rich Seeks to Fulfill its Duty to Taiwan with Sustainable Shopping
Ever Rich Duty Free’s eco-friendly products exhibit at the POOL was a pop-up activity from 18th Mar to 5th Apr 2022, which serves a popular attraction among city dwellers and environmentally conscious consumers. Located inside the Tainan Art Museum, the natural lighting piercing through the glass provides the perfect ambiance to inspire sustainable coexistence of…
From Good COP… to Better Partners
“[The United States acting] alone cannot reach the essential goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. We have to work together.” – AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk in April 22 remarks at the American Innovation Center. Notable in our era of profound polarization, partnership was the refrain across Taiwan and the globe on Earth Day 2022….
One’s Trash is Another’s Treasure: How Taiwan Cube Energy Turns Waste into Power
Last November, Taiwan Cube Energy (TCE), Taiwan’s first privately invested enterprise specializing in renewable energy derived from solid recovered fuels (SRF), broke ground on its initial project in Taiwan, an industrial waste-to-energy (WtE) plant in Taoyuan. Once construction of the plant is completed in 2025, the company forecasts that it will be capable of converting…
Referendum Threatens Taiwan’s Energy Transition Goals
Two questions appearing on the ballot for Taiwan’s December referendum are expected to put up major barriers to the island’s plans to transform its energy mix if they pass. On December 18, Taiwan citizens will be voting on four referendum proposals: one to ban pork containing ractopamine, one to combine future referendum votes with national…
Taiwan Turns with the Tide Against Plastics Pollution
What used to be known as the “Petrochemical Kingdom” is now leading the fight against the production and use of plastics, or coming up with clever alternatives There was a time not so long ago when simply having a shower would typically release hundreds of thousands of plastic microbeads down the drain. Eventually they would…
Desalination in a Rainforest: Taiwan Faces Water Shortages
Taiwan is the world’s rainiest developed country, but an insufficient storage system is forcing big users to consider desalination of seawater as a viable water source. The Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) recently won Environmental Impact Assessment approval for a desalination plant to produce fresh water from seawater at its Mailiao industrial complex in Yunlin. The…
Attacking Soil and Groundwater Contamination
Taiwan has set admirable goals for cleaning up soil and groundwater pollution. But are overly rigorous standards actually inhibiting site remediation? The CPC Corporation’s massive Kaohsiung refinery complex ceased operations in December 2015 as promised by the state-owned oil company in 1990 (when it was known as the Chinese Petroleum Corp.). Then Premier Hau Pei-tsun…
Is Taiwan on Track to Reduce its Carbon Footprint?
Taiwan’s government has ambitious goals for dramatically reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with global standards. Although Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and did not sign the Paris Accord, Taiwan has nevertheless developed its own plan to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint in…