Taiwan launches plan to develop CCS sites — Taipei Times
Taiwan’s Ministry of Environment has launched a plan to develop sites for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and is conducting a strategic environmental assessment of it. The plan is intended to identify areas suitable for such projects, prevent conflicts over space use, ensure the safety of long-term storage and reduce environmental risks. Taipei Times reports.
The ministry held an expert consultation meeting on Wednesday regarding the plan, which was prepared last year by the Climate Change Administration. According to the draft assessment statement, potential CCS zones are planned to be identified primarily in deep saline aquifers in waters off Taiwan’s west coast.
Restrictions on potential sites
Areas defined by legislation as protected, environmentally sensitive or restricted for development will be excluded from the list of possible sites. Climate Change Administration Director-General Tsai Lin-yi said CCS was incorporated into Taiwan’s climate legislation after the Climate Change Response Act was promulgated on February 15, 2023.
According to her, the ministry is responsible for both CCS development and environmental protection. The agency voluntarily initiated a strategic assessment of the sites, although the law did not explicitly require it. The study was commissioned two years ago to a team from the Institute of Environmental Engineering at National Taiwan University. In February, the ministry introduced a requirement to conduct a strategic environmental assessment for all CCS development projects.
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Comments from experts and the public
Experts positively assessed the strategic assessment but stressed the need to strictly control the risks of carbon dioxide leaks. In their view, CO₂ entering water could affect groundwater quality, while leaks into the air could cause breathing difficulties.
Experts also proposed assessing how many CCS sites are needed to achieve the target of reducing 6 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2035. This target is included in the action plan for emissions reductions through carbon capture, utilization and storage, which the central government launched last year.
Chen Chi-chung, president of the Miaoli County Environmental Protection Association, called for potential zones to be more clearly outlined in the strategic assessment and for the technical methods and implementation status of the demonstration CCS site in Miaoli to be made public. He also proposed creating an early notification mechanism for planned projects so that local residents could raise objections.
