Stephen Shen (; born 19 June 1949) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Minister of the

Environmental Protection Administration The Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan (EPA, ) is a cabinet-level executive agency responsible for protecting and conserving the environment in the Republic of China (Taiwan). This also includes, air quality, noise control, m ...

(EPA) of the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. ...

from 2008 to 2014.

Education

Shen obtained his bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctoral degree in chemical engineering from

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

in 1971, 1975 and 1982 respectively.

EPA Ministry

Nuclear energy over coal energy

In March 2013, commenting on the uncertainty regarding the completion of Taiwan's 4th nuclear power plant, the

Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant The Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant (), formerly known as Gongliao and commonly as the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (), is an unfinished nuclear power plant in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It consists of two ABWRs each of 1,300 MWe net. It is owned b ...

, Shen said that by abolishing nuclear power plant, means Taiwan has to replace it with more coal-fired power plants, which means it will create more carbon emission to the environment and it would make Taiwan not being able to achieve its carbon reduction goal in 2020. While renewable energy is good to replace carbon-based power generation, renewable energy is still expensive and is not economical as coal, especially when it comes to electricity generation. He added that having nuclear power plant is safer compared to more coal-fired power plants because nuclear energy can be controlled, while severe climate change due to excessive carbon emission cannot be controlled at all.

LNG supply to Kinmen from Mainland China

In January 2013, Shen witnessed the signing of agreement between

China National Offshore Oil Corporation China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC Group (Chinese: 中国海洋石油总公司 Pinyin: ''Zhōngguó Háiyáng Shíyóu Zǒnggōngsī''), is one of the largest national oil companies in China, and the third-largest national oil c ...

and Shinfox to supply Kinmen with

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

(LNG) from

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

. The delivery of LNG was expected to be started in early 2015 to industrial companies. At a later stage, the supply would be increased up to 100,000 tonnes per year to include power plants and households. Shen said that the cooperation is helpful to aid Taiwan in realizing Kinmen to be a tourism-focused low-carbon county.

References

1949 births Living people Taiwanese Ministers of Environment National Taiwan University alumni {{Taiwan-politician-stub