Urban actions toward energy efficiency and carbon reduction—an empirical study under the urbanization dynamics

Abstract

In 2014, Taoyuan County and Taoyuan City were consolidated and promoted as a special municipality. However, with numerous migrants entering the existing industrial area, the resultant pollution and carbon footprint have urged competent authorities to take certain actions and respond to the city’s demand to maintain a sustainable environment. Therefore, the study explores the factors influencing energy efficiency and carbon reduction (EECR) actions during urbanization, with Taoyuan City, Taiwan as the research subject. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted to compile the factors influencing the EECR actions of Taoyuan City. Subsequently, a quantitative questionnaire was distributed to identify influential factors. The results revealed that contextual factors of EECR policies, especially the support from local residents in Taoyuan, exerted a major effect on the implementation of EECR actions. Besides, the supporting regulations and professional training (pertaining to the human resources aspect) all exerted the effect as well. Accordingly, suggestions with the respect for the supportively contextual factors were provided to facilitate the pursuit of a low-carbon society.

Appendix 1: background information of the Taoyuan metropolitan area

Prior to the promotion of Taoyuan City as a special municipality, the Taoyuan metropolitan area promoted the Laojie River improvement project, the low-carbon transportation promotion project (which encouraged the use of electric buses and scooters), community energy-efficient light replacement subsidies, low-carbon model community incentives, energy-efficient on-site medical consultations, training of seed personnel for low-carbon promotion, and low-carbon vegetarian diets. Private businesses have also been assisted in obtaining environmental protection labels and certificates. In terms of resource allocation, the energy efficiency and carbon reduction (EECR) actions of the Taoyuan metropolitan area are based on the Low-Carbon City Promotion Project. Before the merging of Taoyuan City and County was promoted, the low-carbon city promotion committees of the competent authorities at different governmental departments and units had begun operations to integrate their operational resources and construct a model community in response to the developmental strategies of the Low-Carbon Home Project promoted by the Environmental Protection Administration. Six of the subordinate working groups and the Low-Carbon City Joint Report Platform were responsible for cross-department and cross-unit business contacts. Through meticulous coordination, the competent authorities allocated resources and achieved the objectives of the EECR policies before Taoyuan City was promoted. For example, by 2013, carbon production was reduced to 21,360 tons/year, energy-efficient product sales and individual green consumption had reached NT$5 billion/year, and the market share of electric scooters had reached 0.3%.

Appendix 2: interviewees

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Appendix 3: operational measurements of the sub-concepts of the dependent variables

The operational measurement indicators of the dependent variables were compiled on the basis of the interview analysis results. According to the interviewees, the inspection of EECR actions could be conducted by establishing carbon reduction goals and by evaluating the extent and public awareness of policy implementation. That is, the local governments could establish a regional, quantized carbon reduction index in response to the policy goals promoted by the central government. They could develop a local EECR management index in combination with local regulations, supervising the policy implementation results through a quantized approach (interviewee A3). In addition to the quantized index, public awareness of policy implementation would reflect the extent of policy implementation. For regions with less effective implementation, the respective local governments could provide suggestions, assist relevant organizations in cooperating with the policies, or provide implementation instructions to improve the extent of policy implementation and public awareness of implementation, possibly encouraging more people to cooperate with EECR actions and practice EECR measures (interviewee A4).

Appendix 4: the questionnaire, the coding and summary statistics of the data

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