Quick News

In the first stage of a water-conservation project, Taiwan will build six plants that can turn wastewater into usable water for industrial parks by 2020, the Economics Ministry’s Water Resources Agency said on Monday.

There are plans to build three new water-recycling plants, as well as upgrading of three existing sewage plants to recycled-water suppliers for industrial parks.

Once completed, the six plants will be able to supply a combined 280,000 tonnes of reclaimed water to local industry daily, according to government estimates.

A sum of 15.163 billion New Taiwan dollars (Bt16.6 billion) has been earmarked for the six projects, which make up the first wave of a long-term project to build plants that can provide reclaimed water to industrial parks.

The project is supported by the Water Resources Agency, the Construction and Planning Agency of the Ministry of the Interior and local governments.

The construction scheme aims to stabilise Taiwan’s water supply for industrial parks and to reduce the industrial use of water treated for livelihood purposes.

Taiwan has long faced the problem of water shortage due to low water prices, leaking pipelines, and drought.

In Greater Kaohsiung, the Fengshan River Plant will be upgraded into a reclaimed water supplier for Kaohsiung Linhai Industrial Park Service Centre as early as 2018.

The plant will recycle wastewater for commercial use and is expected to recycle more than 25,000 tonnes a day in 2018, with capacity increasing to 45,000 tonnes a day by 2019.

Bidding for the build-transfer-operate (BTO) project would begin soon, the agency said.

Construction for the five other plants is slated for completion in 2020. In Greater Taichung, the upgraded Futian Plant will be able to supply 130,000 tonnes of reclaimed water every day to the Taichung Harbour Related Industrial Parks Service Centre.

Upgrades include additional filtration and disinfection equipment and a 28-kilometre pipeline to transport water to the local industrial park, according to the agency.

Parks that will receive water from the recycling plants are the Kaohsiung Linhai Industrial Park Service Centre, the Taichung Harbour Related Industrial Parks Service Center, Central Taiwan Science Park and the Southern Taiwan Science Park and neighbouring Tree Valley Park. – The China Post/ANN

Asia-Pacific urged to prepare for climate change

The increasing intensity and frequency of cyclones, flooding and drought have had a severe impacted on the environment, livelihoods and food security in the Asia-Pacific region, says Shane Wright, executive director of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre.

Extreme weather events and other natural disasters in the region affect more than 163 million people and cause economic losses worth of US$23 billion (Bt824 billion) each year.

“The impact of disasters and climate change is most evident in vulnerable communities that rely on agriculture and natural resources for their livelihood,” Wright said. “For building sustainable development, it is critical to ensure the resilience of these sectors to the changing climate.”

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre and Oxfam last week hosted the “Pan-Asian Regional Policy Forum on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Integration of Climate Change Adaptation into the Environment, Livelihood and Food Security Sectors”. While identifying actions to ensure risk-informed decision making in the Asia-Pacific, the Bangkok forum also prepared recommendations for the climate-change conference in Paris that began this week.

Livelihoods in Asia are largely dependent on agriculture – particularly on rice farming, fisheries, and livestock. Stakeholders at the forum stressed that protecting natural resources from the impacts of climate change and natural disasters was crucial for guaranteeing that these critical resources continue to be available for future generations.

“Only by integrating disaster-risk reduction and climate-change adaptation into development planning and governance can we ensure sustainable development in the region as well as the communities’ ability to bounce back after disasters,” Wright said.

The policy forum built on the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which aim to reduce disaster risk substantially over the next 15 years.

Next year, governments will translate global commitments into national and local action plans leading to a critical time for a multi-stakeholder dialogue and regional collaboration to build resilience, save lives and protect livelihoods from the impact of natural disasters.

Training programme invites

teachers from around world

Teachers of mathematics and science around the world, including Thailand, are invited to apply for the 2015 Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy (HESA) programme, a simulated astronaut-training and professional development programme of Honeywell at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Created in partnership with the space centre in 2004, HESA is designed to address the trends in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education by providing teachers with new technical skills and teaching techniques that help motivate students around the world. Since the programme’s inception in 2004, more than 2 million students have been reached and inspired by 2,375 HESA alumni from 55 countries.

“Over the years, HESA has brought remarkable transformations among teachers globally by providing valuable opportunities for them to approach advanced technologies and innovative training methodologies,” said Jim Bujold, president of Honeywell Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines).

“We would like to see teachers in Thailand also take this opportunity that will definitely bring them unforgettable learning experience to inspire the next generation of scientists in the country.”

Each successful applicant will receive a full scholarship following a rigorous and lengthy application and selection process involving competing teachers from around the world.

Scholarships include tuition for the five-day programme, round-trip air fare, meals, accommodations, programme materials, and flight suits, all sponsored by Honeywell and contributions from Honeywell employees.

The application deadline for the 2016 Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy is January 4, 2016. Applicants will be assigned one of the two sessions: June 8-14, 2016, or June 15-21. Acceptance notifications will be made by early January.