Many people imagine Alishan riding a steam train through the thousand-year-old sacred trees. However, the train's fuel, bituminous coal, emits black smoke, sulfur compounds, and PM2.5 particulate matter, effectively negating Alishan's reputation for "beautiful mountains, beautiful waters, and beautiful air." Last year (2022), the Alishan area was designated an air quality maintenance zone. The Chiayi County Government stated its goal to replace all locomotives by 2025, assisting with conversions to more efficient "environmentally friendly" locomotives. By then, emissions will meet air quality maintenance zone standards.
The train is "wearing a mask" with a smoke filter efficiency exceeding 90%, with the goal of replacing all locomotives by 2025.The train is "wearing a mask" with a smoke filter efficiency exceeding 90%, with the goal of replacing all locomotives by 2025. Alishan is Taiwan's highest air quality maintenance area. The Environmental Protection Administration held a visit yesterday (the 2nd). Chiayi County Environmental Protection Bureau Director Chang Huichuan stated that with emission reduction funds gradually in place, Chiayi County aims to replace all locomotives with "environmentally friendly locomotives" with more efficient combustion by 2025, bringing emissions to meet air quality maintenance area standards. Since 2017, the Chiayi County Government has used air pollution funds to subsidize the installation of smoke filters on the Alishan trains, improving efficiency to 95% and reducing PM2.5 emissions by 40 kilograms per locomotive annually. Chang Huichuan noted that the Alishan Forestry and Railway Division of the Council of Agriculture's Forestry Bureau had previously modified antique steam locomotives to run on "bio-coal briquettes," which are made by pressing and carbonizing wood chips and coal briquettes. These briquettes have a calorific value comparable to traditional bituminous coal, but contain lower levels of sulfur, ash, and volatile matter. However, burning bio-coal briquettes on trains is only experimental, and installing smoke filters cannot solve the problem fundamentally. Alishan is Taiwan's highest air quality maintenance area. The Environmental Protection Administration held a visit yesterday (the 2nd). Chiayi County Environmental Protection Bureau Director Chang Huichuan stated that with emission reduction funds gradually in place, Chiayi County aims to replace all locomotives with "environmentally friendly locomotives" with more efficient combustion by 2025, bringing emissions to meet air quality maintenance area standards. Since 2017, the Chiayi County Government has used air pollution funds to subsidize the installation of smoke filters on the Alishan trains, improving efficiency to 95% and reducing PM2.5 emissions by 40 kilograms per locomotive annually. Chang Huichuan noted that the Alishan Forestry and Railway Division of the Council of Agriculture's Forestry Bureau had previously modified antique steam locomotives to run on "bio-coal briquettes," which are made by pressing and carbonizing wood chips and coal briquettes. These briquettes have a calorific value comparable to traditional bituminous coal, but contain lower levels of sulfur, ash, and volatile matter. However, burning bio-coal briquettes on trains is only experimental, and installing smoke filters cannot solve the problem fundamentally.
Alishan Air Quality Maintenance Area to be Established in 2022, Introducing Electric Shuttle Buses to Reduce Pollution
According to Tsai Meng-yu, Director of the Air Quality Maintenance Division of the Environmental Protection Administration, there are currently 52 air quality maintenance areas in Taiwan, 18 of which are located in tourist areas, including Shoushan and Chengcing Lake in Kaohsiung. The Chiayi County Government designated Alishan as an air quality maintenance area in 2011, but this was only for moral suasion purposes. It was not until 2022 that the Alishan Highway (Provincial Highway 18) section 63-94km was officially designated as an air quality maintenance area, which became a basis for fines.
Alishan sees a large influx of vehicles each year. To reduce air pollution, the Chiayi Forest District Office of the Forestry Bureau has partnered with local passenger transport and electric bus operators to introduce 10 low-noise, exhaust-free, medium-sized electric buses to connect people around Alishan. Operators say that while electric vehicles have higher maintenance costs, the monthly charging fee is only NT$180,000, compared to the NT$300,000 monthly fuel cost for gasoline vehicles, making it both cost-effective and pollution-reducing. During the clean air zone period, the county government could only resort to moral persuasion, roadblock inspections, and persuasion, issuing a total of 5,159 permits. Since 2014, the inspection pass rate for diesel vehicles operating in Alishan has reached over 90%. Since the establishment of the air quality maintenance zone, buses over 10 years old without a qualified exhaust gas test record within the past year or a self-managed excellent mark will be penalized for entering the zone. To date, 105 buses have been penalized for violations.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/237106)
