The rise of green energy

Air Pollution Control

　　Everest mainly engages in textile manufacturing, and the air pollutants it produces include particulate matter, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and VOCs. In addition to complying with the laws and regulations of Taiwan's "Air Pollution Control Act" and "Regulations on the Management of Stationary Pollution Source Installation and Operation Permits", Everest commissions several qualified testing companies to conduct air testing of factory exhaust stacks in accordance with the operating permit every year. The average testing frequency is more than 2 times/month. The results of air pollutant concentration tests are all far below the emission standards, and boiler maintenance and cleaning are also arranged regularly.

The audit results, penalties, and amounts for listed pollution sources in 2024: No incidents occurred.

◉  Invest 101 million TWD to improve 5 boilers 

　　Everest has started to improve the existing 5 boilers since 2021, and has set up a special project team to hold weekly meetings with on-site units, environmental safety and health, agents, and manufacturers to update the progress of the project implementation. They also visited peers to identify processes suitable for the company as a reference. 

　　Batch construction began in June 2021. During this period, COVID-19 was rampant, resulting in many container ships unable to arrive at the port as scheduled and engineers were unable to enter the country. As a result, the project was extended to July 2022 to complete the improvement of 5 boilers. The total investment amount is as high as 101 million TWD. The site also introduced a smart management and automatic continuous monitoring CMS system, which automatically monitors pollutants through system connections. When pollutant levels are high, ozone is automatically added to break down SOx and NOx, converting them into intermediate products with lower impact on the environment. 

◉  Plan biomass fuel to reduce the use of fossil fuels 

　　In 2023, Everest began to look for biomass fuel and pure wood as boiler fuel to replace high-pollution, high-carbon coal. Since biomass fuel and pure wood fuel are relatively new, the company needs to overcome various problems one by one, such as flashback or uneven combustion, and wood particles all run to both sides and cannot be concentrated in the middle of the burner row to effectively produce the maximum heat. There are concerns about incomplete combustion or the high temperatures required on-site when using hot coal. There is concern that sparks carried by the induced draft fan could reach the rear bag dust collector and cause damage or fire. In order to overcome the above factors, the company worked closely with various Taiwanese manufacturers and invited academic experts and professors to discuss together. From 2023 to 2024, Everest applied to the Environmental Protection Bureau for a change in the fixed pollution source operation license to add wood particle SRF to the fuel mix. In the future, in 2025, the company will also make rolling adjustments at any time in response to new environmental regulations. 

　　In 2024, the company plans to replace the boiler fuel with natural gas (LNG) as the main fuel. The initial investment cost is 9.8 million TWD for the construction of natural gas pipes and 6.29 million TWD for the replacement of the combustion chamber of the oil boiler. Based on 2021 boiler fuel consumption, switching fully to LNG could reduce emissions by 38,988 tCO2e per year.