Low Carbon Cities and Carbon Reduction

Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Background & Urban Challenges

Since the central government announced the "Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法)" on July 1, 2015, Taiwan has officially entered a new era of carbon reduction. The "Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act" is the first law that explicitly authorizes the government to respond to climate change. It clearly sets a long-term carbon emissions reduction target for 2050, five-year phase control objectives and management measures with economic incentives. In the meantime, the government will gradually establish a carbon emissions cap-and-trade system (總量與交易制度) through establishing a Carbon Trading Platform as well as its related systems. In the future, mitigation, adaptation and green growth will be three main themes motivating Taiwan's response to climate change.

In Kaohsiung City, the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the administrative region in 2016 were 58,890,336.3695 metric tons of CO2e. The major sources of GHG emissions were the energy-industrial sector and industrial process sector, with combined emissions of 48,663,254.9036 metric tons of CO2e, accounting for 82.63% of the total. The residential sector and the energy-transport sector were the next most important. These sectors' emissions were 5,399,679.8436 metric tons of CO2e and 4,290,830.4651 metric tons of CO2e respectively, accounting for 9.17% and 7.29% of the total.

To get rid of its reputation as a heavy industrial city, and to fight against global warming, the city government collected short-term, medium-term, and long-term governance plans to formulate strategies and action plans for greenhouse gas emission reduction in Kaohsiung City, echoing the "Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act." The short-term target is for GHG emissions to be reduced by 20% in 2020 compared to 2005 levels. Related mitigation and adaptation policies and actions include economic development, city buildings, public transport and ecosystems. The five main sectors promoted are energy, industry, residence, transport, and waste.

Solution Descriptions

To meet the carbon reduction goal, Kaohsiung City Government has promoted 47 mitigation strategies/plans with 10 environmental indicators. The main strategies/plans include:

• promoting renewable energy

• formulating greenhouse gas management in the industrial sector

• expanding the integration of resources in industrial zones

• providing subsidies and incentives for replacing newly purchased electric motorbikes for old motorbikes

• providing ticket consolidation and transfer preferences for mass transit systems

• launching public bicycle ride promotions and enhancing the use of intentions

Two carbon-reduction projects that Kaohsiung City introduced are the shared-bike system and joint partnership.

1. Green Economy Model

It is believed that encouraging the use of public transport can effectively reduce carbon emissions. By providing a public bicycle rental system (CityBike, hereinafter referred to as "C-bike"), the public is provided with convenient low-carbon transportation options. Kaohsiung City promoted the first public bike rental system in March 2009 to provide convenient ways for people to get bikes. People use credit cards or "iPASS" to rent bikes; they can rent bikes from one C-bike station and return them to another. It is a convenient system, and the number of users exceeded 4 million in 2017. Currently, there are 450 C-bike stations, providing 3,800 C-bikes for public rental. 

Among all the C-bike stations, 50 of them are equipped with air quality micro sensing systems. They can not only detect temperature, moisture, and Carbon Monoxide, but also PM10 and PM2.5. Citizens can therefore get the latest air quality news when they ride bikes.

By launching the 'green-point-collecting' event, the city expects citizens in Kaohsiung to cultivate low-carbon living habits, support low-carbon transportation and green consumption, make joint efforts to reduce waste of resources, reduce environmental impacts and encourage businesses to invest in green product development. Businesses are expected to improve production process and reduce carbon emissions, thereby mitigating the greenhouse effect and creating a better living environment.

Kaohsiung City Government has cooperated with Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. (KRTC) to provide discounted fares for Metro-Bike Transfer (雙向轉乘優惠) since 2012. People can take advantage of these benefits by either taking Kaohsiung Metro or riding C-bike first. The discounted rate encourages people to reach the Metro by riding public bikes.

2. Kaohsiung City and climate change partners to jointly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in residential sector

Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau (KEPB)* has designed and planned various cooperation mechanisms and methods since 2015. These mechanisms include holding GHG reduction cooperation meetings, investigating and collecting information and resources in its jurisdiction, and promoting cooperation on GHG reduction.

Through these cooperation initiatives, KEPB has not only enhanced the social responsibility of enterprises within its jurisdiction, but also promoted the technologies and concepts of energy-saving and carbon reduction within its jurisdiction. In addition, public institutions will contribute to the improvement of energy-consuming equipment, the replacement or installation of photovoltaic panels and other measures. 

In the future, KEPB will invite representatives of key units to participate in the oath activities, raise awareness of climate change partners in Kaohsiung City and publicize climate change cooperation in the oaths Partner reporting system.

*The KEPB regards itself as a bridge, connecting local companies with communities, schools, and other emission units; it also promotes GHG reduction at the business and residential level, creating green industry.

Results & Reflections

1. Green Economy Model

Kaohsiung City has provided a more complete public transport connection convenience by constructing an improved public transportation network including the underground railway, the second stage of light rail, and extension of the Metro (Luzhu, Yellow Line, Linyuan). It has also set up new public bike rental stations, increased the quantity of downtown rental stations and expanded service range. 

2. Kaohsiung City and climate change partners to jointly create substantial greenhouse gas reduction in residential sector

According to the concept of energy-saved and carbon-reduced promotion, social feedback and caring, local companies actively cooperate with EPB for GHG reduction works, in order to build a low-carbon and sustainable city. In 2016, the total electricity saved amount was 136,262 kWh, and 2017 was 230,993 kWh. In 2018, the expectable energy saved will be 300,000 kWh.

Kaohsiung City is also building a climate change cooperating partnership online system, where public and private actors can upload their demands, including GHG reduction and adaptation. The internet platform will provide services for people in need and will increase efficiency. The following describes some functions provided by the platform:

1. Offering cases for departments to select
2. Automatically combining, collecting, and rewarding on internet
3. Increasing reputation for departments and sponsors
4. Cooperative GHG reduction and adaptation
5. Alternative solutions for self management executive action
6. Increasing cooperation between local, public, and private actors