Green Resilience:

Facing climate change and limited resources, progress toward “net-zero transition” has become a key indicator of national and corporate competitiveness. This month we take you across Taiwan to visit sites of “green resilience” and see our island’s astonishingly innovative solutions.

Dr. Eugene Chien, chairman of the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy, observes that Taiwanese enterprises need to “react quickly, and be highly flexible and resilient” in order to nimbly change manufacturing processes in line with global trends. This has kept Taiwan among the world leaders in international sustainability assessments. In Taiwan sustainability is no mere slogan, but a powerful force for change.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a global leader in high tech, makes the fullest use of every drop of water that its processes consume. Cleanliness standards in semiconductor manufacturing are rigorous, but TSMC has become the world’s first enterprise to use reclaimed industrial water in five- and three-­nanometer wafer production. As it pursues precision computing power and water-positive strategies, it is also implementing conservation measures on behalf of an endangered fish species—the Central Taiwan gudgeon—and of fireflies, and even produces its own brand of honey. At TSMC, technology and the environment have found a beautiful balance.

The papermaking industry is seeing a similar wave of innovation. Chung Hwa Pulp Corporation (CHP) is promoting a nature-­friendly materials revolution that they call the “saccharide economy.” At CHP, each tree is fully used, with cellulose turned into paper pulp and the remaining lignin used for cogeneration of heat and power. Even mineral residues from papermaking are cold-pressed into “eco-bricks.” Further, they have turned part of their Hua­lien Mill into an environmental education park where local kids can learn about sustainability and the circular economy.

Green resilience is also present in mountains and schools. Taipower’s Wanda Hydro Power Plant, located in Nantou County on the upper reaches of the Zhuo­shui River, has been generating hydro­electricity for a century. Recently a new office complex has been built there, with structural elements made entirely of wood. Also in Nantou, National Chi Nan University has leveraged solar power to create Taiwan’s first green-­energy campus, making sustainability the foundation for resilience. Having been through the disastrous Jiji Earthquake of September 1999, NCNU today supports local communities by providing a large-scale disaster evacuation center powered by renewable energy, and serving as a think tank for regional revitalization.

We warmly invite you to explore this issue of Taiwan Panorama to experience this green dynamism and see a Taiwan that is shining brightly in the global trend towards sustainability.