Despite plans to increase coal-fired power generation by 10 billion kilowatt hours over the next eight years, air pollution levels would see a 35 percent reduction, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.

EPA Deputy Minister Thomas Chan (詹順貴) told reporters that while initial plans called for increasing the output of coal-fired plants from 45 percent of total power generation to 50 percent by 2020, new technology would allow the plants to generate less air pollution.

He said the government is now aiming to have 43 percent of power generated by coal-fired plants in 2020 to better meet greenhouse gas emissions goals.

Output from coal-fired plants was increased to 151.2 billion kilowatt hours this year and carbon emissions from the plants rose to 100,000 tonnes, he said.

However, despite plans to raise output to 161.2 billion kilowatt hours, emissions from the plants are expected to drop to 65,000 tonnes, he said.

The new plants will achieve lower emissions through the use of supercritical steam generators, which operate at pressures above the critical pressure, resulting in slightly lower fuel use and therefore less greenhouse gas production, he said.

At the same time, older plants will be fitted with devices that remove more of the carbon from emissions before they leave the plant, he added.

Newer plants in operation already employ supercritical fluids that reduce emissions of sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide and total suspended particulates to the lowest levels stipulated by emissions standards, citing the coal-fired plant in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口).

The EPA has already taken stock of emission reduction efforts at state-run firms, including Taiwan Power Co, CPC Corp, Taiwan and China Steel Corp, he said, adding that it is pushing plans for improvement at each firm.

The EPA will tackle emissions at private enterprises next, including the replacement of coal-fired burners and the improvement of pollution-reduction measures and equipment, he said.

Chan quoted President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as saying that budgetary issues are not a concern, and that emissions and power generation goals can be achieved as long as the skills to do so are there.

The Executive Yuan had already checked and ratified carboon-reduction plans last year, but implementation has been delayed due to other more pressing issues the government was dealing with.

He said efforts to curb carbon emissions will start with the power-generation industry.

While the initial emission-reduction goals may seem small, they are significantly stricter than the initial goals set by South Korea and Singapore, he said.

“The current state of air quality is the result of the whole planet striving to meet economic development goals. It cannot be improved in just three to five years, and things cannot return to the way they were several decades ago,” Chan said.

The government will nonetheless strive to make improvements, he said.