Monthly News Review: July 2023
“Green restaurant” approvals under scrutiny: Are they too excessive and low standard?
Why You Should Know
In 2018, Taiwanese NGOs launched a Green Dining Guide (GDG) to promote sustainability. Afterwards, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has replaced the name of ‘Surplus Food Restaurant” with “Green Restaurant”, introducing its own list of “green” restaurant businesses. While the basic standard for green dining is using locally-sourced food, the EPA’s list includes international chain coffee shops. Hence, people have started questioning its authenticity and expressed concern that it may affect the support of green dining by the Taiwanese population.
The News
Green dining has been promoted in the world by two main associations, the Green Restaurant Association (GRA) in the US and the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) in the UK. In 2018, Taipei Cultural Exploration Association launched the GDG, a green diet promotion campaign to promote sustainability and help farmers find good outlets for their agricultural products with the “Green Food Manifesto”.
Jung-Cheng Huang, Director of GDG explained that to be included in the list of the GDG, the restaurants must follow the principles which are also based on the ten sustainable restaurant orientations provided by SRA with some adjustments after visiting many domestic restaurants like “the six criteria of the Green Food Manifesto”, including prioritizing local and seasonal ingredients, prioritizing organic ingredients, following sustainable ecological and oceanic principles, reducing the use of additives, providing vegetarian meal options, and reducing resource depletion and waste. There are more than 250 green restaurants now. This year, GDG has signed an agreement with SRA to encourage restaurants in Taiwan to achieve its Food Made Good Standard.
In 2020, to encourage people have a “Net Zero Green Living”, the EPA, too, has started using the name of “Green Restaurants”, which means that the EPA now has another list of “Green Restaurants” based on three criteria: “Do not provide disposable items actively, give priority to using domestic ingredients, and provide customized meals to reduce food waste.” The restaurants apply online, submit information for registration, and the EPA will invite local Environmental Protection Department to check and those who pass the inspection can join the green restaurant.
The restaurants participating in both the GDG and the EPA’s Green Restaurants simultaneously mentioned that the standard is loose, qualifications are easy to get and there has no onsite inspection for years. Currently, there are almost 1000 restaurants on the list and one coffee shop was discovered providing disposable tableware and not using much domestic coffee beans after investigation. Another restaurant owner thinks that the names between the EPA’s Green Restaurant and the GDG restaurants are too similar with two completely different standards which could confuse consumers. Wei-Chih Weng, Integrated Business Director of Dentsu Aegis Network, suggests that the government should communicate with the catering industry to establish the definition and criteria for green restaurants. Otherwise, the official green restaurants and the private GDG will indeed confuse people.
Our view
The EPA has clarified that it did not plan to connect the “Green Restaurant” with international standards, and simply meant to encourage from the perspective of environmental protection concepts such as low-carbon diet and green life. Nevertheless, the consumer awareness has been increasing especially on environmental issues. People pay more attention to “Green” things during their daily lives, and they tend to purchase green products which means green certifications are inescapable.
Despite some complaints about the loose standard set by the government, people might not take this issue seriously now because there are not many negative things that have been revealed on the internet yet. Perhaps the government should inspect the catering industry in a contrary way which is setting a higher standard that may cause the numbers of the list slump abruptly in the beginning, but the less the better. This would at least ensure that, people are spending their money correctly and worthily. Meanwhile, the government could take this opportunity to provide improving measures as well as offering subsidies as an incentive.
Last but not the least, the public may not even recognize its meaning and concept because the information has not been actively spread to the broader population. Presenting on a TV ad or posting ads on the transportation may be a good choice. Mostly, the government and the public shall be responsible for holding certified restaurants accountable so that we could all distinguish the real ones from the false ones.
Further Reading
https://topics.amcham.com.tw/2023/01/green-dining-gains-recognition-in-taiwan/
The Yunlin abandoned industrial area has become the largest single solar energy site in Taiwan after being repurposed to produce green electricity
Why You Should Know
In previous articles, we have discussed the current status of solar energy in Taiwan and why rooftop solar power is crucial for the country. Now, let’s further explore the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in Taiwan, located in Yunlin. This power plant was originally a reclamation project on an artificial island for industrial purposes, but it remained idle for over twenty years due to various issues. The central government had proposed using this area to install solar panels to increase Taiwan’s renewable energy share. However, the local government had concerns about job opportunities and the difficulty of recovering the previous investment of over NT$10 billion through photovoltaic power, leading to continuous rejection. Only recently, due to practical considerations, it accepted the solar power project.
The News
The emerging area of Yunlin’s island industrial zone, which cost over NT$10 billion for land reclamation, has been abandoned for over twenty years due to the poor evaluation of its benefits. In 2008, there were plans for Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group and CPC Corporation to establish facilities here, but these plans fell through due to environmental issues. Earlier on, the renewable energy zone in Taixi Township, where the industrial zone is located, used to be a major aquaculture center in Taiwan’s near-shore waters. However, during the 80s, under the Kuomintang’s leadership, the Yunlin Outlying Island Basic Industrial Zone was established, and after five unsuccessful bidding attempts, except for the Mailiao Industrial Zone where Formosa Plastics Group is located, Taixi, Xinxing, and Sihu Districts all experienced stagnation. Not only did a large number of people move out, but oyster production decreased significantly, land subsidence and soil salinization became issues, and abandoned fishponds were scattered everywhere.
This area has experienced many twists and turns. The former county magistrate had already lobbied the central government and secured NT$1.9 billion to develop it into the “Taixi Green Energy Zone.” However, after the new county magistrate, Li-shan Chang, took office in 2019, she gave up the original plan and instead proposed establishing the “Taixi Industrial Value-added Park” to promote more diverse industries to rescue the declining employment rate. The rental fees recoverable from energy companies would be much lower than the initial investment of NT$10.4 billion is another reason why they don’t want to develop solar energy in this region. However, in previous project Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which had previously invested NT$800 million, had to leave and listed Taiwan as a country of investment concern. Including ongoing projects, halting the overall plan would still cost another NT$100 million. The county government also had to apply for the cancellation of the industrial park project they initiated separately, which lasted less than two months due to execution difficulties. In the end, they had to accept pushing for the Taixi Industrial Zone to be developed as a green energy zone.
Currently, Xinxing region, under the Shuo Li PV Energy Co., Ltd under VENA ENERGY’s development, has completed the construction of a 226-hectare solar power plant and was put into operation at the end of April. It is the largest single-site solar photovoltaic power plant in Taiwan, with an annual power generation capacity of 400 million kWh, equivalent to the electricity consumption of 90,000 households in Taiwan per year. During the peak hours of power generation, every 25-degree green electricity in Taiwan includes 1-degree from the Yunlin Xinxing Power Plant, making significant contributions to Taiwan’s energy transformation and energy self-sufficiency. Additionally, Yunlin is the county with the longest average sunshine duration in Taiwan, providing a special advantage for developing solar photovoltaic power here.
Our view
Although the initial investment and the rental fees recovered at the end are disproportionate, the previous investment has already become a sunk cost. Perhaps, as the Industrial Development Bureau currently insists, transitioning to the development of green energy is indeed a better choice. Moreover, different expectations from the central and local governments have caused numerous setbacks for this industrial zone. It has gone from being a green energy zone to an original industrial zone, and finally, it returned to solar power generation. We hope that the solar power plant can make the most of Yunlin’s long hours of sunshine and properly utilize this land.
Further Reading
Editors: Joann Cheng and Regina Fang
Proofreader: Elias König
