A passionate advocate for green energy voices his frustration with Taiwan’s progress on developing its renewables sector.
The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/12
By: David Green
The target set by Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government to raise the
Gao is also a contributor to Green Impact Academy, a green economy community and web resource.
proportion of Taiwan’s energy generated from renewable sources to 20 percent from the current 5 percent by 2025 is drawing closer. As the government scrambles to fulfill its obligations to voters and phase out nuclear power, and ahead of national anti-pollution protests set for this weekend (Dec. 17), The News Lens sat down with Anton Ming-zhi Gao (高銘志), a Ph.D in Energy Law from the KU Leuven in Belgium and secretary general of the Taiwan Environmental Law Association, to discuss the realities of the DPP’s energy policy.
TNL: You sent me an article you had authored suggesting that Taiwan’s energy transition was a ‘renewable scam.’ What was your motivation for writing that piece?
Anton Ming-zhi Gao (AMG): After the election last year, the government talked a lot about renewable energy. At first I was very excited because I was a big fan of this kind of energy. But observing law and policy development over the last two years I found the government actually did nothing to promote this energy transition. I was depressed and this turned to anger so I wanted international investors to know the situation.
