However, only owners of vehicles less than five years old are allowed to apply to modify their cars for LPG, said Lee Li-de, director of the city's Bureau of Environmental Protection.

He noted that 90 percent of the vehicles in the city that are under five years old have already been remodeled to run on LPG, with the help of the city subsidy.

The growing popularity of LPG vehicles is reflected in the volume of fuel sales, according to Lee, who said that the two LPG filling stations in the city sold a total of 9,158 kiloliters of fuel last year, which represented an increase of 91 percent from the 2007 level.

Because of the high number of LPG-fueled vehicles in the city, carbon dioxide emissions dropped by 2,708 tons last year from the 2007 level, Lee said, adding that the reduction was equivalent to what would be absorbed by 225,694 trees.

Lee said that given the growing popularity of LPG vehicles, it is expected that more LPG filling stations will be established in the city.

Last year, licenses were granted for the opening of three private LPG filling stations, one of which will become operational around the middle of this year to relieve the inconvenience that LPG car drivers have endured, he added.

The subsidy program is aimed at encouraging more vehicle owners to switch to LPG to help reduce air pollution, Lee said.

He noted the cost of running a vehicle on LPG fuel is NT$0.38/per kilometer less than on unleaded gasoline because the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has been subsidizing the cost of LPG vehicle fuel to the tune of NT$2 per liter. This means that LPG vehicle owners can save fuel costs of around NT$20,000 a year, he added.

(By Y.L. Kao)