Analyze

The first section of the presentation focuses on the use of artificial intelligence to improve manufacturing and reduce carbon emissions (see 2019 report). Formosa's efforts go back to 2017, when the company was one of five business that each invested NT$30million in the creation of Taiwan’s first AI Academy, initiated by scholars at Academia Sinica (see also Lin 2018). According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “[t]he academy has drawn faculty from scholarly institutions ranging from Taiwan’s major universities to foreign research institutes, Academia Sinica and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, as well as from the corporate sphere, with AI managers and entrepreneurs coming in to share their real-world AI experience.” Further, they state that by 2020, FPG had trained over 100 workers through courses offered by the academy.

Slides 37-55 outline FPG's current carbon capture system in Kaoshiung and its future plans for CCS systems in Mailiao, including an experimental system of biodegradable carbon capture. These initiatives, largely through Formosa Smart Energy Corp. also attempt to use AI models to regulate carbon capture for optimal production. 

See slides 40-42 for new initiatives on carbon capture. They list plans to build deep water carbon capture pits, being sited in Yunlin as of 9.2022.

The carbon capture system they have in place at Nanya seems to have reduced the amount of naptha necessary to manufacture butyl ether, a chemical used in solvents and pesticides, through reinjection of that carbon dioxide into source feedstocks (Enhanced Oil Recovery).

“國際碳捕捉技術發展

依據全球碳捕捉與封存研究所(Global CCS Institute, CCSI)最新發布之「2022年全球碳捕捉與

封存發展現況報告(The Global Status Of CCS 2022)」，⾄2022年全球共有30個⼤型CCS綜合

專案已經營運，其中有22個採⾏強制採油技術(Enhanced oil recovery, EOR)，利⽤⼆氧化碳灌

注⾄快枯竭的油氣⽥，獲取更多殘存油氣，以增加效益，其餘8個專案封存於陸地或海洋深層

鹽⽔層，顯示現階段應⽤仍以EOR技術為主，除可減少碳排外，更可增加獲利。

自動翻譯

 Capture Technology Development

According to the "2022 Global Carbon Capture and Storage Storage Development Status Report“ (The Global Status Of CCS 2022), by 2022 there will be 30 large CCS comprehensive

The projects are already in operation, and 22 of them adopt enhanced oil recovery (EOR), using carbon dioxide irrigation. Inject into the depleted oil and gas to obtain more residual oil and gas to increase efficiency, and the remaining 8 projects are sealed in land or deep ocean

The salt water layer shows that the current application is still dominated by EOR technology, which can not only reduce carbon emissions, but also increase profits.” (Slide 38)

Heavy reliance on technosolutions to reach emission reduction and climate goals. Shift from oil as fuel to oil as material. Cooperation between industry, academic, and technical research organizations to research new carbon capture systems. Longevity of the petrochemical industry within climate politics is a high priority for FPG, but also the efficiency of petrochemical inputs. Climate change action is being pursued, but more so in capture of carbon emitted and repurposed within chemical reactions, as opposed to omitted through reductions in production

Kingspan workers: Two workers from Kingspan, Lucas Hernandez and Israel Maldonado, detailed both their unsafe working conditions at Kingspan and the response from the company when they submitted complaints. Note that this conversation was moderated with questions from Ms. Meredith Schafer. 

Dr. Shahir Masri: Dr. Masri oversaw the air pollution monitoring at Kingspan. He used worker-collected pollution data to quantify PM2.5 levels at the plant. 

Rev. Terry LePage: Rev. LePage spoke on behalf of CLUE, a faith-based organization that has helped with Kingspan unionization efforts and written letters to Kingspan re: the pollution and safety hazard complaints.

Jose Rea: Mr. Rea spoke on behalf of MPNA-GREEN, a community group that donated the AtmoTubes used for air pollution data collection. 

Before this event I hadn’t known much about faith-based community organizing (such as CLUE), and would like to investigate more about the role of these types of organizations in local EJ efforts.

The lack of importance that Kingspan has placed on employee complaints about safe work environments suggests a lack of inbuilt methods (e.g., regular strict evaluation of workplace standards) of holding a company like Kingspan accountable for the health of their workers, despite the existence of workplace standards.

This event showed the very real ways in which large corporations directly profit from cutting corners in ways that hurt the health of their lowest-wage workers. The effort it takes to hold a company accountable for the health of their workers is immense, and while the groups present at this event are clearly making it happen, this accountability is not systematically enforced and requires individuals and relatively small organizations to impose justice.

• The need for multiple agents to commit to EJ changes like this, including many not directly affected by it. 

• The power of both local and global community organization networks in creating change. 

• Civic responsibility as a necessary catalyst for political change and attention to certain issues.

Dr. Masri presented data collected by the Kingspan workers that clearly showed levels of air pollution at the plant that were much higher than EPA allowable levels during working hours. 

The event was primarily focused on efforts by Kingspan workers and supporting parties to get Kingspan to improve working conditions, especially indoor air pollution at the plant.

Attendees included: city council members, Kingspan workers, Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Climate Action Campaign. Notably, all the primary facilitators were white. One of the Kingspan workers required a Spanish-speaking interpreter. It was implied at one point that the workers were paid minimum wage, but I am not 100% sure of this.