CPC, Taipower deny report that they are burying carbon (2013/06/25)
State-run CPC Corporation and Taiwan Power deny a media report that they are burying carbon dioxide underground. The report has sparked fears that the gas could induce an earthquake or leak, harming local plant and wildlife. Taiwan Chinese Petroleum The Apple Daily has made surprising/startling claims: At the beginning of the year CPC Corporation silently buried a hundred tons of CO2 in Yunlin, before the end of the year it plans to bury another 10,000 tons in Miaoli, and Taiwan Power conducts drilling and plans to bury up to 100,000 tons of CO2 in the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park by 2017.
Tsui Shu-hsin, secretary-general of the Green Citizens’ Action Alliance, disagrees with this approach.
Tsui Shu-hsin Green Citizens’ Action Alliance The cost is high and it could spark an earthquake or the gases could leak. There are such examples. I think these companies should be more transparent.
In a press conference the Environmental Protection Administration explained that environmental regulations do not formally permit burying of CO2. Taiwan Power says that it is stillin the investigation stage and has not decided whether to go aheadwith the plan.
Hsu Jhen-ming Taiwan Power Research Division We’ll do this one step at a time. In 2017 we plan to experiment with 10,000 tons, not 100,000. If everything goes smoothly we will slowly experiment with higher amounts, such as 100,000 tons.
Yunlin magistrate Su Chih-fen denied that CPC had buried 100 tons of CO2 in her county. She says she had not seen any plan or application made by the company.