TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Demand for fossil fuels in Taiwan continues to rise, which a leading Taiwanese public health academic has attributed to globally high electricity demand.

Writing on Facebook on Sunday (Dec. 17), National Taiwan University (NTU) professor of health sciences Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said that Taiwan’s demand for fossil fuels used in electricity production is roughly equal to that of Thailand, which he said is a developing country. Electricity demand is growing faster than renewable energy supply, Chan said, meaning fossil fuels are being used to fill the gap.

Chan referenced data published by the New York Times in November that showed Taiwan’s fossil fuel demand increasing in the electricity sector. The data was sourced from electricity data generation firm Ember, and showed Taiwan’s oil and gas use on a steady upward trend over about the past 20 years, as coal use grew at a slowing pace.

In Asia, only Japan was granted the label of a “declining fossil fuel power,” while other countries, including Taiwan, China, and India, were labeled “rising fossil fuel powers,” according to the New York Times report.

According to Ember data, the percentage of clean electricity produced in Taiwan has declined since the turn of the millennia and now sits at about 16%. Looking across the Taiwan Strait, China overtook Taiwan in the percentage of clean energy produced around 2010, now producing about 35% renewable energy.