Per capita carbon output ranks No. 1 in Asia

Thursday, October 13, 2011
The China Post news staff

The China Post news staff--The average daily carbon footprint per person hits 19.6 kilograms
in Taiwan, the highest of its kind in Asia, with the carbon dioxide mainly generated by meateating, air conditioning, and driving, according to findings of a survey jointly conducted by the
Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and MassMutual Mercuries Life
Insurance Co., Ltd.
The carbon footprint is the measure of the amount of greenhouse gases, measured in units of
carbon dioxide (CO2), produced by human activities. A carbon footprint is typically given in
tons of CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq) per year.
The EPA and MassMutual Mercuries Life Insurance successfully surveyed 1,067 local people
aged between 20 and 44 in an effort to learn more about carbon footprint generated by
people in Taiwan, following the release of statistical data by the United Nations and the
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center of the U.S.
The statistics showed that Taiwan generates 2.58 billion tons of CO2-eq per year, translating
into a carbon density of 7.15, per capita carbon emission of 11,580 kilograms per year, and
a daily average emission of 19.6 kilograms per person.
The daily average emission of 19.6 kilograms per person in Taiwan is far higher than the
figure of 5 kilograms proposed by the United Nations, indicating there is much room for
improvement by Taiwan in this regard.
Findings of the above-mentioned local survey showed that the largest source of CO2
emission lies in the eating of meat products, which generates 5.7 kilograms of CO2-eq per
person per day and accounts for 29 percent of the daily carbon footprint amount of 19.6
kilograms.
Air conditioning comes next with 17.3 percent or 3.4 kilograms, and driving ranks third with
8.7 percent or 1.7 kilograms.
The same survey also indicated that quite a few people in Taiwan have stay reluctant to take
actions to reduce carbon footprint although they know how to do the job.
It was found that over 90 percent of the respondents know that taking public transportation
systems or riding bicycles can help to reduce carbon emissions, but only 54 percent of them
did take actions in this regard.
Meanwhile, over 80 percent of the surveyed know that reducing the use of air conditionerscan help to cut carbon emissions, but only 64 percent of them did try this way.
Furthermore, some 48 percent of those polled know that washing clothes by hand, instead of
using washing machines, can lower their carbon footprint, but only 19 percent would like to do
so.
In response to the survey results, Professor Wang Ya-nan of the National Taiwan University
proposed quite a few easy practices that can help to reduce carbon emissions, including
buying fewer new clothes, eating more vegetable and fruit products and less meat, taking a
shower instead of taking a bath, taking stairs instead of elevators, using public transportation
systems instead of driving on their own, switching off lights any time, controlling the air
conditioning temperature at 26 degrees Celsius, and reducing the frequency of watching TV
and playing video games.
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source:www.ChinaPost.com.tw