Taichung bylaw restricts coal use

NOT NEEDED?The EPA said that the city could have restricted the use of bituminous coal by tightening licensing rules, which would have eliminated the need for a bylaw

By Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

Taichung on Wednesday passed a bylaw on the burning of petroleum coke and coal, which requires large industries in the city to reduce their use of coal by 40 percent in four years.

“Taichung has made a historic move. The decision we made today will go down in history. Constraining the use of coal is the public consensus,” Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said after the bylaw passed the third reading in the city council.

The bylaw bans petroleum coke and regulates the use of bituminous coal — considered the second-highest grade coal, after anthracite coal — and other types of coal that are of poorer quality, because those fuels are responsible for particulate matter in the city’s air, the city government said.

The bylaw applies to facilities that emit more than 5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases per year, including the Taichung Power Plant and Dragon Steel Corp’s plants, which have to shift to using coals with greater burning efficiency within six months of the bylaw taking effect, while they should reduce their use of bituminous coal by 40 percent within four years, the city government said.

Lin said the city government plans to have the Taichung Power Plant replace four of its 10 coal-fired generators with natural-gas-powered generators within four years, while Dragon Steel has promised to carry out a restoration program to reduce air pollution.

The city used 22.51 million tonnes of bituminous coal last year, with the bylaw projected to see a 32.7 percent reduction in that figure, the city government said.

The bylaw made the city the second municipality to implement coal-burning restrictions after Yunlin County in June passed a bylaw banning the use of petroleum coke and bituminous coal.

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) rejected the Yunlin bylaw in September, saying it involves national energy management and was beyond the county’s jurisdiction.

The Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau said the Taichung bylaw does not prohibit the use of bituminous coal, but rather requests facilities to gradually reduce use of the fuel, which does not contradict national laws.

The EPA said that it has yet to study the Taichung bylaw to assess its legality, adding that the city government could restrict the use of bituminous coal by tightening licensing rules, eliminating the need for a bylaw.