TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) said he has agreed to serve as an advisor to President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) National Climate Change Strategy Committee.

Lee made the announcement as he attended the opening ceremony of the "Climate Action" exhibition at the National Museum of Natural Science on Wednesday morning (July 10). He fielded a number of media questions following the event, noting that Taiwan is facing both a climate crisis and an energy crisis, per CNA.

Regarding energy policy, Lee said that Taiwan should wait until there is sufficient green energy before retiring nuclear power plants. At the moment, ending nuclear power will simply make Taiwan more dependent on burning more coal, oil, and gas, which will impact the environment.

Lee said that when it comes to energy policy, the government should first focus on eliminating the most polluting sources of energy. As eliminating nuclear power will only increase reliance on coal, oil, and gas, the government should postpone a decision to retire current nuclear reactors in operation.

Additionally, Lee was not optimistic about the status of green energy as a replacement for current energy sources. He said that Taiwan has a large population occupying a relatively small area of land, making solar, wind, or sea power generation per unit of area very small.

In the past, Lee said that Taiwan's economic development required an endless amount of imported fossil fuels, which caused lots of greenhouse gas emissions. This practice is no longer possible as international organizations and businesses no longer tolerate endless emissions unless clean energy can be used as an offset.

Lee said that if Australia’s hydrogen electrolyzer technology is successful, Taiwan can purchase such power and gradually transform society and a new economy. However, Taiwan's current renewable energy efforts make such a transformation difficult as more international cooperation is needed.

When asked by the media if nuclear energy is a national security concern, Lee said that Taiwan's nuclear energy development is different from other countries like Canada, as Taiwan cannot use the uranium from nuclear power plants to make nuclear weapons.

Lee concluded by saying Taiwan’s current energy policy is unworkable.