Taichung City's 2019 PM2.5 Lowest in Nearly 4 Years: Mayor Lu Shiow-yen Says Continuous Efforts to Improve

Taichung City's air quality improvement shows results! According to statistics from the Environmental Protection Administration of the Executive Yuan, all pollutants in Taichung City in 2019 reached their lowest levels for the same period in nearly 4 years. Among them, the average PM2.5 was 17.7 micrograms per cubic meter, an improvement of 1.1 micrograms compared with 18.8 micrograms in 2018; the number of days with poor air quality (AQI>100) was 44 days, 16 days fewer than in 2018. Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen said that improving air quality is long-term work. Although initial results have been seen, they are still not enough, and efforts will continue.

The Taichung City Environmental Protection Bureau explained that last year all pollutants in Taichung City reached their lowest levels for the same period in nearly 4 years, and from January to March this year, the number of days with poor air quality (AQI>100) was 11 days, 1 day fewer than the same period last year and 9 days fewer than the same period the year before. According to the city government's Blue Sky and White Clouds Action Plan, in 2019 all bureaus and departments completed a PM2.5 reduction of 1,221.89 metric tons. In addition, based on the emissions and category proportions in the Environmental Protection Administration's Taiwan Emission Data System (TEDS 10.0), the 2020 target was set at a PM2.5 reduction of 1,123.5 metric tons.

In terms of actual reduction actions, the 2019 target for retiring old motorcycles was 55,000 vehicles. As of December last year, 26,101 two-stroke motorcycles and 54,023 four-stroke motorcycles had been retired, totaling 80,124 vehicles, for a PM2.5 reduction of 21.5 metric tons. For large stationary pollution sources, through permit reviews, public and private premises were required to adopt the best available control technologies. In 2019, 6 facilities completed designated reductions, for a PM2.5 reduction of 79.6 metric tons. In addition, in 2019, environmental protection and carbon reduction measures were promoted at temples, effectively reducing the amount of PM2.5 generated by temples by 37.8 metric tons.

For waste branches, subsidies were increased for Taichung farmers to purchase branch chippers (shredders). For individual use by farmers, the subsidy was raised from one-third to two-thirds; for shared use by production and marketing groups, the subsidy was raised from one-half to three-fourths. Farmers were also guided to chip (shred) waste branches and recycle them on-site in fields to maintain soil fertility and avoid open burning.