Kaohsiung City government opens Net Zero Institute

Kaohsiung City government opens Net Zero Institute

2023-11-06

The Kaohsiung City government has opened a school to support Taiwan’s net-zero ambitions. The Net Zero Institute was launched at Kaohsiung Software Technology Park, in a ceremony attended by President Tsai Ing-wen.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
Here at the Net Zero Institute, related issues and research will be reviewed. Net-zero concepts will be promoted widely in an easy-to-understand format. So all of you, after you finish the classes, let me know if you understood the lessons. If not, we will ask them to redesign the curriculum.

Huang Wei-che
Tainan mayor
As we proceed toward the net-zero target, we hope that more friends will join us at the Net Zero Institute.

Chen Chi-mai
Kaohsiung mayor
For one thing, it will help us align with global certification bodies. For another, it advances cooperation between industry and academia.

The Net Zero Institute will provide certification courses, technical courses, and lessons in general knowledge. According to Kaohsiung’s Environmental Protection Bureau, there will be more than 50 certification courses on carbon auditing and carbon footprints next year. Technical courses will be designed and offered based on industry needs.

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高雄"淨零學院"蔡總統出席揭牌加速達成淨零排放目標

2023-11-06

落實2050淨零排放目標，全國首創實體”淨零學院”，下午在高雄軟體科技園區正式揭牌，總統蔡英文也親自到場見證，希望能加速達成淨零排放的目標。

[[總統蔡英文]]
“從淨零學院出發，檢視相關議題和研究，並且以淺顯易懂的方式，將淨零的觀念推廣到每一個角落，所以各位，上完課以後你跟我講你們有沒有聽懂，沒有的話，我們請他們重新設計課程”

[[台南市長黃偉哲]]
“整個淨零的路上，在淨零學院我們希望有更多朋友，一起來參與”

[[高雄市長陳其邁]]
“一方面能夠跟國際認證機構接軌，二方面也能來落實產學合作”

淨零學院規畫通識、證照、技術三大類課程，高雄市環保局長張瑞琿表示，明年度已與查驗機構敲定50場以上碳盤查、碳足跡等證照課程，並規畫技術類課程，依照產業需求、特性開課。

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The KMT held a press conference on Monday to criticize the Tsai administration’s economic policies. DPP lawmakers fired back with data.

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The KMT says that they’re strong in economic issues, saying that they boosted Taiwan’s export value by more than NT$70 billion in eight years. We the DPP are absolutely not buying it. Under the DPP administration, export value went up by 71.1%, from NT$279.1 billion in 2016 to NT$479.4 billion last year.

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A farmer in a polo shirt uses a long hoe he made himself.

Mr. Hung is a cocoa farmer who lives in Ben Tre Province, Vietnam. His daily routine involves getting ripe bean pods down and into the basket. It may seem simple, but our reporter discovered it’s not as easy as Mr. Hung makes it look.

Climate change and global inflation have affected Vietnam’s cocoa production, leading to a shortage of more than 180,000 tons. Natural pests are an issue throughout the process of planting, cultivating and harvesting the beans. But cocoa farmers are also at risk of exploitation by global conglomerates. That’s one of the reasons this cocoa source tracing scheme was born.

Mr. Hung
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I harvest about 15 tons a year on average. We can sell that for about US$7,000. It costs a lot to care for the cocoa trees. But I can manage it by myself. If I grew rambutan, half of my money would be spent on hiring workers.

Mr. Hung makes NT$140,000 a year just through cocoa farming. As part of the scheme, he gets an extra payment of NT$4 for each kilogram of cocoa beans, which is equivalent to another month or two of income. Meanwhile, his cocoa trees’ lifespans are extended and his business is sustainable.

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So, the benefits of our program to the farmer: First of all, we pay a premium for the quality of the beans they supply to us. Secondly, we pay what we call – we invented what we call the “chocolate premium,” which is an additional payment to the farmer.

Open up the pod and taste the raw bean, and it’s a little like mangosteen. Within six hours, the freshly harvested wet beans are sent to a harvesting center just for the tracing scheme.

Their sugar content is tested, they ferment and dry in the sun. Then they’re sent on to further locations for processing. In the end, these beans will become the chocolate that so many of us can’t live without.

Yeh Wei-hsiang
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Taiwanese companies have joined this cocoa source tracing scheme, to prevent the exploitation of cocoa farmers, and to ensure food safety standards. And that’s their strategy to get a slice of the chocolate market, which is worth more than NT$9 billion a year.

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Firstly, you have to have joys in life, so long as they don’t hurt you. Why? Because it will go with you throughout life. So I realized that I always liked artistic stuff, in middle and high school, and it’s continued up to the present day.

Apart from his metal wire art, Chuo also gets creative with plastic bottles and a palette knife, carving out these beautiful scenes. Although taking on the family store was not his original plan, now that it’s his decision, he’s determined to do it as well as he can, while keeping the flame of his art alive. What’s next on the horizon? Well, watch out for a class in “One Wire Folding” someday soon.

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2023-11-06