The COVID-19 epidemic in Taiwan has intensified, prompting the nation to enter Level 3 alert. The central government has urged the public to avoid gatherings and non-essential travel. In response to epidemic prevention measures, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has extended the annual greenhouse gas emissions inventory and registration deadline by one month. Regulated businesses must complete the registration by September 30, 2021. Emissions in 2019 totaled 224 million metric tons. By industry, the power industry accounted for the highest share, accounting for 53% (approximately 119.26 million metric tons of CO₂e), followed by the steel industry at 14%. The EPA stated that over the past five years, greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing industry have shown the highest average annual growth rate of 6.44% in the semiconductor industry, followed by 1.35% in the paper industry and 0.37% in the photovoltaic industry. The average annual growth rates of other industries have been declining. Under the current Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (GHGRA), emission sources announced by the central competent authority must conduct annual emissions inventories. In 2016, the EPA also announced the "First Batch of Emission Sources Subject to Inventory and Registration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions" (the first batch of emission sources), listing major energy-consuming industries such as power generation, steel, petroleum refining, cement, semiconductors, and thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) industries, as well as other industries with annual emissions exceeding 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (metric tons CO2e), as major greenhouse gas emission sources subject to inventory and registration. Due to the impact of the pandemic, the EPA has postponed the registration deadline. The EPA stipulates that the first batch of emission sources listed above must complete the previous year's plant-wide emissions inventory and registration by the end of August each year, and register the data on the online platform. The EPA pointed out that the inventory and registration process has several steps. First, the emission source business conducts a plant-wide inventory. After verification by a third-party inspection agency, the business can then register online. Businesses must register in detail the type of emission source, the process that caused the emissions, and the type and value of greenhouse gases. The registration is then considered complete after confirmation by the inspection agency. However, due to the recent severe domestic epidemic and the implementation of a nationwide Level 3 alert, third-party inspection agencies are unable to conduct factory verification work. This may result in the regulated enterprises being unable to complete the greenhouse gas emissions inventory and registration work by the end of August as scheduled. The Environmental Protection Administration recently announced that the deadline for this year's greenhouse gas emissions inventory and registration will be extended by one month, pushing the deadline to September 30th of this year. If regulated enterprises are unable to complete the registration due to hardware or software failures or other factors, they may also apply for an extension in accordance with the "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Registration Management Measures." Emissions in the previous year were 224 million metric tons, with the power industry accounting for more than half of carbon emissions. According to the EPA's inventory and registration statistics over the past five years, the number of regulated enterprises in 2015, 281, 290, 293, and 288 respectively from 2015 to 2019, an average of 288 enterprises registered annually. Data released last year for 2019 shows that direct greenhouse gas emissions from businesses totaled 224.6 million metric tons of CO₂e. Fuel combustion accounted for the largest share (80.70%), followed by process emissions (18.98%), transportation equipment fuel combustion (0.03%), and fugitive emissions (0.29%). Indirect greenhouse gas emissions for the same year totaled 41.3 million metric tons of CO₂e, with electricity use accounting for the largest share (87%), followed by steam use (13%). By industry, the power industry had the highest share of emissions in 2019, accounting for 53% (approximately 119.26 million metric tons of CO₂e), followed by the steel industry (14%), basic chemical manufacturing (11%), petroleum refining (9%), cement (4%), and semiconductors (2%). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that over the past five years, greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing industry have shown the highest annual growth rate in the semiconductor industry at 6.44%, followed by the paper industry at 1.35% and the optoelectronics industry at 0.37%. The average annual growth rate for the remaining industries has been declining. Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/231467)
