Cabinet proposes to ban sale of nonelectric vehicles

2017/12/25

The Cabinet announced Dec. 21 an action plan to curb air pollution and promote renewable energy, a component of which will be a ban on the sale of fossil fuel-burning two- and four-wheel vehicles.
 
 Drafted by the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration, the multipronged action plan will work to cut the number of air quality red alert days by 50 percent by 2019; replace all government vehicles and public buses with electric-powered versions by 2030; and ban all sales of nonelectric motorcycles and four-wheel conveyances by 2035 and 2040, respectively.
 
 According to the administration, the government will require state-owned enterprises to adhere to stricter regulations that conform to international standards. Other proposed measures include providing preferential loans to delivery and passenger bus companies for the replacement of aging, heavy-pollution vehicles.
 
 Premier Lai Ching-te said that the government is committed to improving Taiwan’s air quality and reducing pollution, as evidenced by measures such as the action plan as well as an air pollution control and prevention strategy unveiled April 13 by the Cabinet. The three-year, NT$36.5 billion (US$1.2 billion) program aims to reduce the density of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in Taiwan from 22 to 18 micrograms per cubic meter by 2019.
 
 The premier said the implementation of the action plan will be a nationwide effort, with the central and local governments coming together to achieve the air pollution reduction goals.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=15&post=127018)