TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Sugar Corp. said that it has expanded its carbon reduction and resource reuse initiatives, including the pilot of carbon capture technology at its sugar plant, afforestation projects, and the promotion of bagasse reuse.
The company has begun adopting equipment that uses low-carbon fuels and increasing the use of renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions. It aims to reduce emissions by more than 28% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a news release from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The company said that its sugar plant in Yunlin uses bagasse as a biomass fuel and captures the carbon released when it is burned to help grow more sugarcane, creating a carbon cycle and reusing resources. It also mixes bagasse with sugar syrup to make organic fertilizer or uses it to grow organic vegetables and mushrooms.
The company added that it utilized the National Atomic Research Institute's carbon capture technology to capture chimney emissions and convert them into baking soda, which Nice Enterprise Co. then processed into eco-friendly cleaning products. The technology can capture 10 kg of carbon daily at the sugar plant and produce 15 kg of baking soda.
Taiwan Sugar owns nearly 10,000 hectares of land across Taiwan suitable for afforestation. The company plans to use about 3,301 hectares for tree planting to store carbon and will collaborate with the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency and other companies to afforest roughly 70 hectares in Hualien and Changhua.
The company also plans to build solar power plants to sell renewable electricity, an initiative under review by the economics ministry. It will install solar panels on parts of its parking lots and areas with lower sugarcane yields. The company added that private companies have developed large-scale solar panels on its leased land and ponds, with a total capacity of 543 MW in 2024.
