The smog is back! Get the facts right this time

According to a report made by Copernicus Climate Change Service, the earth’s average surface temperature in 2017 was 14.7°C (approximately 1.2°C higher than the Industrial Age’s), the second warmest year after 2016, which shows that the winter was not that cold as it seemed. However, every autumn and winter, the lingering problem of air pollution in Taiwan always dominates the headlines, and there is no exception this time, especially when a big election for mayors of cities and counties is coming at the end of 2018. How to reduce and control air pollution, and how to resolve public complaints, become the highest priority for the competent authorities and local leaders. 

But getting back to our main topic, do you know what causes Taiwan’s air pollution? Is there anything that Delta can help with? And what can a citizen do for it?

The world’s PM2.5 data map as published in the report. Dark red indicates the highest and dark green indicates the lowest(Image provided by: DW)

30% determined by fate, 70% by hard workWell, the title is a title of a famous Taiwanese song, but we are not bringing it up for singing. It comes from the information supported by official organizations and scientific evidence, and it proved true when we uncovered the mystery of Taiwan’s air pollution.

Overwhelmed with the pollution issue recently, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) had delegated researchers to study and track Taiwan’s air pollution sources. The results show that about 1/3 of the pollutants are transmitted from abroad (outside Taiwan), with approximately 40% contributed by neighboring China during autumn and winter, the periods of the worst air quality. It is not surprising that some officials recently pointed out that China is the source of Taiwan’s lingering air pollution problem. Though it seems like that they were trying to shirk their responsibilities, they did not criticize without grounds.

However, pointing finger at China for everything has little effect in preventing air pollution. The geographical environment of Asia-Pacific region where Taiwan is situated experiences northeast monsoon during autumn and winter. This is how nature operates and is beyond the control of human beings. In early 2015, after CCTV journalist, Chai Jing, released the documentary, “Under the Dome”, the Chinese government has been more active than most countries, speeding up to put effort in smog control and energy transformation.

This suggests that the remaining 2/3 local pollution source is contributed by Taiwan, and something needs to be done for its own part.

Based on the official data, sources of Taiwan air pollution are from three main areas: transportation, industry, and others (food and beverage, construction projects, open burning, etc.) By looking at a single specific source, the main contributors are truck (11.2 - 16.8%), food and beverage industry (10.8 - 12.2%), dusty roads (9.0 - 9.9%), electric power industry (4.5 - 9.9%), private passenger cars (6.5 - 7.4%), etc.

In view of this, the government has recently speeded up the passing of the draft amendment of Air Pollution Control Act, and implemented a series of response measures, mostly focusing on transportation and specific industries (power plants, industrial areas, and state-owned enterprises). Some local governments also introduced discounted public transport, and the Executive Yuan even declared the vision of fully abolishing fuel vehicles (official cars by 2030, scooters by 2035, and motorcars by 2040) by 2040, sparkling a heated debate.

Start with energy-saving, focusing on building and transportFinally, let’s return to the earth surface from the cloud. What can the humble ordinary people do when faced with smog, an environmental pollution that is so closed but invisible and untouchable? We can’t just put on a mask or stay home for all day long. 

In fact, there are a lot of things that we could do, starting with the most basic energy-saving principle, a philosophy which Delta always emphasizes. 

Scientific evidences repeatedly show that many types of air pollutants come from our daily energy sources, especially fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, etc. This is why besides China, more and more countries are promoting similar policies such as phasing out coals, reducing the proportion of thermal power generation, and using less fossil fuel to keep warm. Yet in Taiwan, nearly 80% electricity still relies on thermal energy every year. If we could reduce unnecessary energy consumption, and use less electricity, we could help Taiwan speed up energy transformation process of phasing out thermal power and increasing the proportion of renewable energy.

Also, changing our daily mode of transport is just as important. By using more public transportation (public buses, trains, or MRT), we could reduce the use of private transportation (like scooters and motor cars). This could resolve the problem of traffic congestion and traffic accidents, as well as help improve the environment. If one is not used to the crowded public transportation, the emerging sharing economy and matching APP which promotes ride-sharing, could also reduce air pollutants caused by vehicles. For short-distance movement, the most environmental-friendly option is to walk or cycle.

Making use of public transportation can reduceair pollution(Image provided by: Delta Electronics Foundation)

Besides transportation, building is also important. Delta’s green buildings, which it has been promoting for years, emphasize energy-saving, carbon-reduction and eco-friendliness. It also helps to improve living comfort and indoor air quality. 

For Taiwan’s warm and humid subtropical climate, past green buildings emphasize natural ventilation by opening the windows and drawing the outdoor air to reduce indoor heat and the need of air-conditioning. However, with the arrival of the smog season, opening the windows will only draw polluted air, forcing the public to purchase air purifiers, which have become standard home appliances in Taiwan nowadays. However, this is just a superficial solution.

In fact, since 1990, Germany has been promoting the concept of “passive house” (“Passivhaus” in Germany). It reduces power consumption of buildings and requires carbon dioxide concentration to be controlled at below 1000 ppm. Hence, many European and American houses are installed with “fresh air ventilation system”, which draws fresh air and exhausts polluted air so as to maintain constant indoor temperature and good air quality.

A similar air pollution control device can be implemented in normal houses too. For example, Delta Electronics Foundation’s staff, Zhang Yang-Gan, modified a 30-year-old building at Tianmu last year. His breathable main gate design incorporates the restored window screens and iron gate. He ditched the original single-sided daylighting configuration, restoring the ventilation path, and installing energy-saving “DC ventilation fan” (A normal exhaust fan consumes 20–50W of power, while the Delta product consumes only 3-4W.) in the bathroom for drawing moist air. 

Besides helping energy conservation and carbon reduction, greenbuildings also make use of the heat exchange system to maintainindoor air quality (Image provided by: Evan Kao)

The active and passive designs complement each other, creating a “one in, one out” indoor ventilation path, exhausting indoor volatile organic compounds, as well as reducing reliance on air-conditioning through natural ventilation during spring and autumn.

Whenever the humid and cold air pollution season approaches the northern side, insulated airtight windows have to be closed. In such case, he used a total heat exchanger to filter outdoor air and then draw it in. Together with an air purifier and indoor planting for air purification, the total heat exchanger can improve indoor air quality, and prevent carbon dioxide concentration from shooting up causing drossiness, and substantial loss of indoor heat. Results from this winter’s first cold current, for example, show that when the outdoor temperature drops to less than 10°C, the indoor temperature can still be maintained at around 17 to 18°C without turning on the heater, and may even rise up to around 20°C when his kids start running around in the house. 

At the end of the day, to tackle the tricky air pollution problem, everyone can play a part in terms of energy-saving aspect, in areas like transportation, building, etc. Blaming nature and China is of no help.

Air pollution control tools / Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Network, Environmental Protection: http://taqm.epa.gov.tw
i-Environment website: http://ienv.epa.gov.tw
Environment Info Push APP：https://www.epa.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=29172&ctNode=33321&mp=epa
Taiwan Power Company’s website: http://www.taipower.com.tw/content/new_info/new_info-e71.aspx?LinkID=24