A charged debate: Taiwan’s nuclear energy conundrum Published: 14 April 2023 Commentary In less than five decades, nuclear power in Taiwan went from a much lauded energy source to a nuisance. After the Fukushima incident in 2011, growing concerns about safety led to a shifting of attitudes towards nuclear power. The current Taiwanese administration continues to pursue its policy to phase out nuclear power by 2025 but meets growing challenges. This article explores the history of Taiwan's nuclear power program, the factors that led to its decline, and the security challenges of phasing out nuclear power. Kwangyin Liu
South Korea's 'unstable' nuclear energy policy: From Lee through Moon to Yoon Governments Published: 14 April 2023 Commentary South Korea’s nuclear energy policies have undergone significant changes over recent years, showing an “unstable” character depending on respective governments in power. This article explains the political factors behind these policy changes and the arguments made for and against nuclear energy in Korea; it also explores the competitive relationship between nuclear energy and renewable energy. While nuclear energy is unlikely to be phased out any time soon, the challenge for South Korea remains to create a distributed energy systems that increases local self-sufficiency in electricity supply and introduces distributed renewable energy-friendly markets. Soo Jin Kim
A Call for Energy Justice in Southeast Asia Published: 23 March 2023 Article Southeast Asia’s energy transition needs not only to be accelerated in terms of technology deployments but also to be processed and accomplished justly. Doing so requires hinging the region’s energy transition plans and activities to the distributive, recognition, procedural, and restorative tenets of justice. Laurence L. Delina
Call for Applications: From Growth to Well Being Think Fund Published: 16 March 2023 Call for Applications We are accepting applications for the From Growth to Well Being Think Fund until July 31st, 2023.
Don't Just Dismiss The Voluntary Carbon Market Because Of Its Imperfections Published: 26 January 2023 Commentary The market for carbon offsets is growing exponentially but remains filled with dodgy projects that do little for the environment. Sceptics say it’s time to do away with the voluntary carbon markets altogether and take real action through carbon taxes and emissions caps. But by focusing on the imperfections of carbon offsets, they are dismissing a viable approach to climate action that should be used alongside a broader transition towards lower carbon emissions. Read more to find out why carbon credits shouldn’t be dismissed just yet and how technology is improving the integrity of the carbon market. Shihan Fang
Robots, Drones and Sensors: Biodiversity boom or bust? Published: 20 January 2023 Commentary Policy makers tend to push for “precision” digital technologies, in particular robots, drones and sensors, to address the challenges in biodiversity, the environment and even climate change. The dangerous drawback is, by minimizing human judgment, traditional knowledge and lived experiences, these technology systems tend to undermine people’s ability to nurture ecosystems. ETC Group
There is No Planet B: Earth System Manipulation (aka Geoengineering) is Not an Option Published: 11 January 2023 Commentary Politicians and billionaires are advocating geoengineering approaches as quick fixes on challenges of climate, biodiversity and environment. Many of these technologies are too dangerous to be deployed or even experimented with in the real world. ETC Group
PODCAST - Clearing the Air: Asia’s fight against air pollution Published: 5 December 2022 Article and Podcast From New Delhi to Bangkok to Seoul, Asia is facing the world’s most serious air pollution catastrophe. Experts say this poor air quality becomes fatal with the onset of heat waves and drought from climate change, but citizens are coming up with their own solutions to tackle the dirty air. Chermaine Lee
Solar, wind and clean hydrogen: Asia’s energy transition without the hype Published: 31 October 2022 Article Nearly every country has enough solar and wind to generate its required energy. Pumped hydro makes large-scale energy storage a solved problem. Australia is a global pathfinder in solar photovoltaics. Clean hydrogen, imported from Australia, is frequently touted as a major player in the decarbonization of East Asia’s industrialized countries such as Japan and South Korea. But some of the proposed export markets for hydrogen energy are largely illusory, argues Australian National University engineering professor Andrew Blakers. Andrew Blakers
Bhutan's challenges and prospects in becoming a 100% organic country Published: 8 September 2022 Article Bhutan couldn’t achieve its goal of becoming a 100% organic country by 2020 despite the best of intention, strong political will and government support. What challenges have prevented Bhutan from achieving its goal and does it still or ever have the chance of achieving the goal? Sonam Tashi