Several licenses for the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex successfully extended; environmental groups urge government to give Yunlin a way to survive

Chan Chang-chuan: Only by stopping coal-fired power plants and switching to natural gas or green energy can the tragedy of air pollution killing people be mitigated

Amid the trend of energy transition, Chan Chang-chuan, vice dean of National Taiwan University's College of Public Health, also pointed out today that the international consensus is that electricity supply must reach the stage of being coal-free before 2030, and that the use of natural gas and oil products must reach zero carbon increase before 2050. The claim of insufficient electricity has always been an excuse for the big coal-pollution players and interest groups to continue damaging the environment, but Taiwan's electricity has never been in short supply; peak electricity use can be more than amply supplemented by natural gas power generation and energy conservation. Only by stopping coal-fired power plants and switching to natural gas or green energy can the tragedy of air pollution killing people in Taiwan be mitigated.

Environmental groups point directly to the deterioration of Yunlin County's air quality after the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex began operating; without ending coal burning, it will remain the PM2.5 champion year after year

As for whether the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex's permits would be extended, that tests the government's determination to fight air pollution. The Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance pointed out that public health research data show that after the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex began operating, Yunlin's air quality deteriorated significantly and residents' health continued to be harmed. Yesterday morning, the Mailiao station and Yunlin County were respectively the worst air quality monitoring station and county or city in Taiwan. If the "licenses to kill" of the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex's coal and petroleum coke are not ended, Yunlin may remain Taiwan's PM2.5 champion year after year, severely damaging the health of local residents.

Therefore, the Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance called on the Executive Yuan to make the fight against coal the main battlefield of its air pollution control strategy, and said the central government must not force the Yunlin County Government to extend the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex's licenses to kill. At the same time, Yunlin County Magistrate Li Chin-yung should also show his determination to ban coal, implement the self-governing ordinance banning the burning of raw coal and petroleum coke, reject the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex's permit extension application, and fire the first shot for health and environmental protection.

Several permits for the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex extended; Yunlin County Government says control will be strengthened in the future

Just as the environmental groups' protests had not subsided, the Yunlin County Government announced this morning that it had legally issued 8 permits for the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex, including the extension of 1 raw coal usage permit for the No. 3 Plastics Plant and 5 raw coal cogeneration operating permits for the No. 3 Plastics Plant.

Among them, the M13 raw coal operating permit was issued for the period from 105.11.24 to 107.11.23; the reduced raw coal quantities for the M10, M11, and M12 processes remained unchanged, with the extension period moved from 106.4.16 to 108.4.16; and because the Environmental Protection Administration revoked the permit disposition of 105.10.17 on 106.3.29, the M28 and M29 processes of the No. 1 Plastics Plant maintained the previous reduction of 609,340 tons of petroleum coke at 80% and 84% respectively, with the permit period extended from 105.10.17 to 106.11.16.

In response, Lin Chang-tsao, director of the Yunlin County Environmental Protection Bureau, pointed out that compared with 103, actual emissions from electricity facilities in 105 were cut by 14.95 tons of sulfur oxides and 65.56 tons of nitrogen oxides, showing that the Yunlin County Government's controls had achieved significant results. He also said air pollution control must be managed at both the source and the end, that Yunlin County's reduction in raw coal permits was the highest in the country, and that its emissions standards for electricity facilities and volatile organic compounds were also the strictest in the country.

In addition, he pointed out that the permitted number of years is set with a rolling review approach, which is why the number of years was lowered from 5 years to 2 years this time. In the future, operators will also be required to comply with seasonal pollution reduction methods, actually reducing pollution emissions from October to March of the following year, when Yunlin County's northeast monsoon prevails.

Environmental groups criticize the EPA for only eating shark fin, saying it focuses on the small and ignores the big in air pollution control and has not promoted industrial transformation