Starting in 2020, all developments in parks larger than 50 hectares in Taiwan will be required to submit greenhouse gas offset commitments. The Environmental Protection Administration recently expanded the types of offset sources to include agricultural sector carbon reductions, marking the first opportunity for farmers to benefit from carbon reduction activities, in addition to afforestation and livestock manure disposal. On the 19th, the Environmental Protection Administration revised and released the "Principles for the Treatment of Incremental Greenhouse Gas Emissions Offsets in the Review of Development Activities by the Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Treatment Principles"). Farmers can earn carbon reduction credits by replacing old agricultural machinery with electric power, converting fishing boats' fish-attracting lights to LED lights, and replacing aquaculture water trucks with high-efficiency, energy-saving equipment.
The Council of Agriculture said that it is currently working out a reasonable amount and will purchase carbon reduction quotas from farmers in the form of subsidies and then resell them to development units. It hopes to start purchasing this year.
Environmental impact assessment development offset principle New agricultural carbon reduction category
To encourage environmental impact assessment developers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the "Treatment Principles" in 2020, requiring those who develop parks of more than 50 hectares, establish factories, build thermal power plants other than natural gas, and cogeneration plants to submit incremental offset commitments to offset the increased greenhouse gas emissions caused by the development.
After the 2020 release of the "Treatment Principles," five major offset sources were listed. The EPA revised the guidelines on January 19th to include several additional offset sources, including carbon reduction in the agriculture and transportation sectors. In agriculture, replacing old farm machinery with electric ones, replacing old fish-attracting lights on fishing boats with LED lights, and upgrading fish pond aeration equipment to high-efficiency, energy-saving equipment are all eligible offset sources. In transportation, the new offset is the replacement of old vehicles with electric or hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, converting coal- and oil-fired equipment to biomass fuels is also eligible as an offset source.
The "Handling Principles" stipulate that developers should commit to offsetting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10% annually for 10 consecutive years in their environmental impact assessment documents.
The Environmental Protection Administration stated that since its release, a total of ten environmental impact assessments have pledged incremental offsets, with an estimated maximum annual offset demand of 820,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) during operation. These include the Hsinchu Science Park Baoshan Phase II, Nankai Qiaotou, and Nankai Tainan Phase II and III parks under the Ministry of Science and Technology, as well as the Zhongpu, Shuishang, Xinshi, and Pingtung industrial parks under the Industrial Development Bureau.
Lawn mowers, tea pickers, and more are eligible for the application. The Council of Agriculture plans to begin purchasing carbon reduction credits this year.
Not all agricultural machinery can be replaced with electric ones, but Zhuang Laoda, executive director of the Council of Agriculture's Climate Change Adaptation and Net Zero Emissions Project Office, said in an interview that farmers can apply to the Council of Agriculture for subsidies for electric agricultural machinery such as cultivators, mowers, tea pickers, field transporters, and power sprayers.
Zhuang Laoda said that every time an old machine is replaced with a new one, the greenhouse gas reduction benefit can range from 5 to 20 metric tons.
However, "development agencies can't go to farmers one by one and charge them for 3 or 5 tons of carbon reduction benefits," explained Zhuang Laoda. Since the replacement volume for agricultural machinery, aquaculture water trucks, and fishing boat fish-attracting lights isn't as large as that for electric motorcycles, the Council of Agriculture will purchase carbon reduction credits through subsidies and then resell them to development agencies. He said the Council of Agriculture is currently working on a reasonable amount and hopes to include it in this year's "Subsidy Standards for Council-Oversight Projects" within the first half of the year. The purchase of carbon reduction credits from farmers will begin this year.
Beyond afforestation, farmers have their first opportunity to benefit from carbon reduction
The Environmental Protection Agency currently has two methods to encourage carbon reduction: "Incremental Offsets" and "Offset Projects." The former is primarily used by environmental assessment developers, while the latter is available to small and medium-sized enterprises. However, applications must adhere to rigorous carbon reduction methodologies, which are only legally required in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, and transportation. In contrast, farmers seeking carbon reduction credits under the "Offset Project" have few local methods to rely on, other than reforestation.
The EPA's "Treatment Principles" expand the scope of greenhouse gas offsets for developers to include the agricultural sector. This marks the first opportunity for farmers to benefit from carbon reduction activities, in addition to afforestation and livestock manure disposal. As for whether this will be expanded in the future, Zhuang Laoda stated that due to the complexities of methodology, monitoring, and verification, agricultural carbon reduction will currently be promoted through "incremental offsets."
Huang Weiming, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Administration's Environmental Management Division and Deputy Director of the Climate Change Office, also stated that agricultural carbon reduction methodologies must be based on a complete baseline survey before they can be established. Compared to factories changing fuels or boilers, which can produce immediate results, establishing agricultural methodologies "will take longer."
Zhuang Laoda emphasized that the Council of Agriculture is actively establishing carbon reduction methodologies for the agricultural sector, including taking inventory of agricultural practices with negative carbon functions, identifying existing methodologies abroad that can be appropriated or need to be localized, and establishing carbon reduction methods unique to Taiwan.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/236008)
