Carbon emission per person in Taiwan 17th highest in world: EPA

Central News Agency
2011-10-12 10:32 PM

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Taiwan ranked 17th in the world and ninth in Asia in terms of its carbon footprint, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said Wednesday. The ninth spot in Asia assumes the inclusion of Brunei and the Middle Eastern countries, it said, citing statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA). On average, each person in Taiwan produces 10.89 metric tons of carbon emissions a year, according to the 2009 world carbon emissions report published by the IEA this month. The figure indicated a decline compared with 2008, when it was 11.53 metric tons per person, the EPA said. "Taiwanese produce more carbon emissions than people in Japan, South Korea and mainland China," the EPA said, commenting on a survey that was released earlier in the day. Taiwanese have a per capita carbon footprint of 19.6 kilograms daily, almost four times the United Nations recommendation, it said. The survey, conducted by the Uni-Survey Link Marketing Research and Consulting and commissioned by Mass Mutual Mercuries Life Inc., found that the biggest source of carbon emissions was meat consumption. If one person consumes 432.5 grams of meat a day, 5.7 kilograms of carbon emission is produced, accounting for 29 percent of daily carbon emissions, it showed. Meat consumption was followed by use of air conditioning, which produces 3.4 kilograms of carbon emissions per day, and travel by car, which produces 1.7 kilograms of carbon emissions per day. People in managerial positions produce 25 percent more carbon emissions than average, mainly because they drive cars, the survey showed. Although nearly 80 percent of Taiwanese people believe they are environmental protectionists, they have done little to help conserve the environment, the survey found. More than 90 percent of the respondents said they knew that taking mass transportation or riding bicycles would help reduce carbon emissions, but only 54 percent said they put that into practice. As high as 83 percent of the respondents were aware that reducing the use of air conditioning would help cut carbon emissions, but only 64 percent said they use air conditioning sparingly in summer. Forty-eight percent said they knew washing clothes by hand was more environmentally friendly than using washing machines, but less than 19 percent said they took such action. Commenting on the survey, National Taiwan University professor Wang Ya-nan offered some tips for reducing carbon emissions. She suggested cutting back on new clothes by one item, eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat, taking showers rather than baths, taking the stairs rather than elevators, taking public transportation instead of driving cars, watch TV less and playing fewer video games. She also suggested turning off lights and setting the thermostat on air conditioners no lower than 26 degrees Celsius. The survey was conducted between Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 on people aged 20-44. It collected 1,067 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. According to statistics from the United Nations and the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center under the U.S. Department of Energy, Taiwanese produce 2.58 billion metric tons, or 11,580 kg per person, of carbon emissions per year. The figure is the highest in Asia, far surpassing mainland China, Japan and South Korea. (By Zoe Wei and Lilian Wu)

source: Taiwannews