Taiwan’s bumpy road to energy transition: nuclear debate, semiconductor dominance, and energy security
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
10:30 am to 12:00 pm
- Venue
- SOAS Main Building
- Room
- DLT
- Event type
- Seminar
About this event
The Centre of Taiwan Studies is delighted to welcome Dr Chia-Wei Chao to give a talk as part of this year’s Centre of Taiwan Studies Summer School on Taiwan’s energy transition, examining the political, industrial, and social tensions shaping the island’s changing energy future.
Taiwan’s energy transition has followed a difficult and uneven path, shaped not only by climate targets but also by industrial competitiveness, geopolitical risk, and social trust. This session will examine Taiwan’s key transition challenges: the contested role of nuclear power, the growing electricity demand from semiconductors and AI, and the need to strengthen energy resilience as a matter of national security.
It will also discuss how Taiwan’s environmental movement is responding to new pressures, including permitting conflicts, misinformation, and an increasingly polarized public debate over the future of energy policy.
Image credit: Karsten Würth via Unsplash.
About the speaker
Chia-Wei Chao is Research Director of Taiwan Climate Action Network, a coalition of environmental NGOs working to accelerate Taiwan’s transition toward net zero through policy research, public advocacy, and cross-sector dialogue. He holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering from National Taiwan University, with expertise in sustainability transitions, industrial ecology, and energy policy. Dr Chao is currently a member of the Presidential Office National Climate Change Committee and the Carbon Fee Rate Review Committee.
