On the Road and Going Green：How Taiwan Develops Sustainable Green Tourism  

Environmental sustainability and energy transition: Taiwan steps up battle to cut carbon emissions and achieve Net-Zero by 2050

While the world is experiencing the Covid-19 outbreak since 2020, the most searched keyword in 2021 is net zero emissions. This implies that climate change is going to be another battlefield because no one is immune to its effects. For this reason, U.S. President Biden has promised to invest US$2 trillion in the next four years to build a green energy economy and promote the development of clean energy in the United States. Governments around the world have also actively promoted net-zero emissions to stop climate change from getting worse.

In April 2021, 131 countries including the European Union, the United States, South Korea, and Japan made more active emission reduction commitments at the Leaders Summit on Climate. The United Kingdom and the European Union both updated their mid-term (2035) carbon reduction targets to reduce carbon emissions by 78% and 55%, respectively, and reach a net-zero carbon emission target by 2050. As a member of the global village, Taiwan jumps on the bandwagon to get to zero carbon by 2050.

Technology + Commerce = New Economy: Using Domestic Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Technology and the Concept of Sharing Economy to Develop Green Tourism in Taiwan

Taiwan is not immune to climate change’s impacts. Therefore, in the process of developing smart cities, Taiwan has begun to explore ways to combine technology with commerce to create a new green economy while finding a new power engine for the industry and cities in support of international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ultimately, Taiwan aims to build urban resilience and usher into a new era of urban and environmental sustainability.

Taiwan has begun combining the concepts of electric vehicles and sharing economy with smart city tourism in mind. Initially the beautiful eastern coastal city of Taiwan Taitung was selected to test the electric vehicle charging technology, charging management platform, and service revenue business model. This aims to free urban tourism from the dilemma of green sustainability and economic development

According to the MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), government policies, electric vehicle prices and vehicle models, and charging infrastructure all play their key role in the popularity of electric vehicles. Among them, the number of charging facilities installed, charging time, and the availability of supporting power grids and electricity supply are the potential factors to affect consumers' acceptance of electric vehicles.

With the support of the Taiwan Smart City Project initiated by the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA), Noodoe - an electric vehicle charging service provider - has cooperated with Taitung City Government, along with local car rental operators, restaurants, tourist centers, and outlying islands like "Green Island," to provide electric vehicle rental/sharing/charging services. This tie-up helps achieve low-carbon green tourism with smart electric vehicles while breaking the deadlock between economic growth and environmental sustainability, and the trade-off between green tourism economy and local ecology.

Tomorrow's parking lots will be able to provide charging service! If this becomes the reality, it will solve the range anxiety of electric vehicle drivers who have the fear that the vehicle will run out of electricity before reaching its destination. Noodoe has cooperated with Taiwanese restaurants, shopping malls, parking lots, and resorts to set up charging stations to build a complete charging network across Taiwan. It allows car owners to complete charging in parking lots and also brings market opportunities in charging station areas while creating a new economic model for parking lots.

Build a One-Stop Smart Charging Service with an Integrated Service Model of Software and Hardware

Noodoe is an electric vehicle charging service integrator in Taiwan. It integrates charging station-related hardware, software, and cloud technology. The Noodoe EV OS (Operating System) cloud-based system is compatible with charging stations of various brands and supports DC and AC power supply. It also cooperates with charging network operators (such as EVCS), electric vehicle manufacturers (such as Audi), builders (such as Morgner), smart city power plants (such as Southern California Edison), just to name a few.

For corporate customers, it provides energy management and dynamic pricing services. Personnel-in-charge can set the charging peak time and price range on the platform while automatically updating the charging price based on market demand. In addition, it can also real-time monitor the status of each charging station. Not only can it monitor the operating situation and improve the service efficiency, it can also automatically reduce and balance the overloaded power, providing fault diagnosis and detection before automatic repair.

For customers, it provides automated charging and payment services. Even if the car owner does not download the app or log in as a member, the electric vehicle can be automatically charged as long as the charging gun is inserted. The car owner can then scan the QR code of the charging station with their phone to select their preferred payment method, language interfaces, and currencies.

It is Not Too Late for Taiwan to Build a Sustainable Green City

In the face of energy scarcity, global warming, and natural disasters, Taiwan strives to create a sustainable, smart, and green country using in-house technology solutions. The Taiwanese central and local governments and industries have been working closely together with an aim to build a new economy that not only is environmental friendly but also is conductive to economic development. Amid the construction of a resilient city, high-tech becomes a driving force to enhance sustainable earth development and smart city planning. At present, the Taiwan Smart City Project has fostered about 300 Taiwanese companies to develop more than 220 smart services across 22 counties and cities in Taiwan, benefiting up to 8.54 million people.