Comments on: 1208 climate change action in Taipei

By: 1206 climate change action in Taipei - David on Formosa

1206 climate change action in Taipei - David on Formosa — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:47:09 +0000

[...] to coincide with the UNFCCC climate talks in Poznan, Poland. I also participated in the 2006 and 2007 actions in [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:36:02 +0000

Thanks for putting up those links, David. CO2 isn’t my main concern (at least compared with ocean change and certain livestock farming practices), but it’s great to know where that data is.

Solar power generation is growing at a far higher exponential rate than total energy use, so it should have a positive effect on CO2 emissions in time. For car pollution, though, I think the best solution is less driving. This city really has become more commuter friendly since I first got here.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:51:05 +0000

Cutting down on bottled water? Sounds like a joke to me. What about the new plant Formosa plastics is building? Politicians ugh!!!!

By: links for 2007-12-10 | bent

links for 2007-12-10 | bent — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:24:19 +0000

[...] David on Formosa: 1208 climate change action in Taipei David on Formosa reports from Saturday’s Climate Change Action in Taipei. (tags: Environment) [...]

By: David Reid

David Reid — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:10:39 +0000

If only it were so simple. The "pollution" you are referring to is probably PM10 or particulate pollution and maybe other things like ozone, NOx and CO. Government regulation and improvements in design have successfully reduced this. However, the problem is CO2 is directly related to energy use. The amount of PM10s that come out a car exhaust can be reduced. The amount of CO2 can't (unless you radically redesign the car to make it more fuel efficient). CO2 is invisible but a small increase in its concentration in the atmosphere affects the climate of the entire planet! Have a look at the EPA website page on air quality. Some more detailed figures are here. Their figures show significant improvements in air quality. However, Taiwan's greenhouse gas emissions have increased in the same period.

By: owshawng

owshawng — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:52:52 +0000

I thought the pollution in Taiwan had improved a lot in the last 5 or so years. I remember in 1997 and 2001 I could see the air around the Taipei train station, felt lightheaded from the fumes, and my clothes would be filthy from just me wearing them while wandering around Taipei.

The air in Taipei seemed much better on my last trip in December 2006, about the same level as New York or Sydney. Are there any figures on how much the air has improved since the subway started running? I also thought Taiwan was finally requiring new cars to have a catalytic converter.

By: cfimages

cfimages — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:38:54 +0000

Good on you for documenting this. As someone with a degree in climate science, this is an issue close to my heart. Hopefully we’ll see some concrete action, but I don’t hold out much hope. Politicians rarely look at the long term issues, instead focusing on the short term and global warming action takes a backseat.

By: Corey

Corey — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:22:20 +0000

Interesting read, I hope they can do what they are actually saying.

Regardless, yeah, bottled water is a waste of energy, but Taiwan depends on the stuff to, umm, survive…I suppose they could implement better water purification plants, but that would cost…more than I think the government is really willing to spend. Oh, well, we’ll see.