Preliminary Investigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Environmental Sector in Taiwan

• Published in: Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995) Vol. 58; no. 1; pp. 85 - 94
• Main Authors: Fukushima, Yasuhiro, Liu, Pao-Wen Grace, Tsai, Jiun-Horng, Feng Lee, Cheng, Tseng, Ting Ke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pittsburgh, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01-01-2008; Air & Waste Management Association; Air and Waste Management Association; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Carbon Dioxide - analysis; Carbon Dioxide - metabolism; Climate change; Developing countries; Emissions; Emissions (Pollution); Energy policy; Energy resources; Environmental economics; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Environmental protection; Exact sciences and technology; Gases - analysis; Gases - metabolism; General purification processes; General treatment and storage processes; Global environmental pollution; Greenhouse Effect; Greenhouse gases; Incineration; Industrialized nations; Kyoto Protocol; LDCs; Measurement; Methane - analysis; Methane - metabolism; Nitrous Oxide - analysis; Nitrous Oxide - metabolism; Pollution; Refuse Disposal - methods; Soil Microbiology; Taiwan; Waste Disposal, Fluid - methods; Wastes; Wastewaters; Water treatment and pollution; Taiwan; USA; Korea, Rep; United Nations; Japan; Germany; Heat treatment; Gas emission; Waste treatment; Pollution control; Carbon dioxide; Pollutant emission; Waste water; Composting; Incineration; Greenhouse gas; Solid waste; Air pollution; Pollution abatement; Planning; Recycling; Biological treatment; Waste water purification; Nocturnal variation; Environmental protection
• ISSN: 1096-2247; 2162-2906
• DOI: 10.3155/1047-3289.58.1.85

The United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) asks their Parties to submit a National Inventory Report (NIR) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on an annual basis. However, when many countries are quickly growing their economy, resulting in substantial GHG emissions, their inventory reporting systems either have not been established or been able to be linked to planning of mitigation measures at national administration levels. The present research was aimed to quantify the GHG emissions from an environmental sector in Taiwan and also to establish a linkage between the developed inventories and development of mitigation plans. The "environmental sector" consists of public service under jurisdiction of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration: landfilling, composting, waste transportation, wastewater treatment, night soil treatment, and solid waste incineration. The preliminary results were compared with that of the United States, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and Korea, considering the gaps in the scopes of the sectors. The GHG emissions from the Taiwanese environmental sector were mostly estimated by following the default methodology in the Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change guideline, except that of night soil treatment and waste transportation that were modified or newly developed. The GHG emissions from the environmental sectors in 2004 were 10,225 kilotons of CO
2
equivalent (kt CO
2
Eq.). Landfilling (48.86%), solid waste incineration (27%), and wastewater treatment (21.5%) were the major contributors. Methane was the most significant GHG (70.6%), followed by carbon dioxide (27.8%) and nitrous oxide (1.6%). In summary, the GHG emissions estimated for the environmental sector in Taiwan provided reasonable preliminary results that were consistent and comparable with the existing authorized data. On the basis of the inventory results and the comparisons with the other countries, recommendations of mitigation plans were made, including wastewater and solid waste recycling, methane recovery for energy, and waste reduction/sorting.