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| Barun Roy: A new Korean war | | Since 97% of its fossil fuels are imported, raising the share of renewables to 11% by 2030 is South Korea's solution |
| Barun Roy / New Delhi Aug 12, 2010, 00:15 IST |
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One might call it the Second Korean War, except that its frontiers are all in the south, its weapons aren’t guns and mortars, and its purpose isn’t conquering territory but securing a nation’s future. Its troops are all of South Korea’s 50 million people. Its combat colours, green.
For a nation 97 per cent dependent on imported fossil fuel, the greening of its economy is a matter of life and death. Two years ago, on August 15, 2008, President Lee Myung-Bak announced a new vision for South Korea of “low-carbon, green-growth” long-term development, embracing everything from home to work to industry. In January 2009, responding to a deepening recession, the government unveiled a “green growth” five-year plan with a stimulus package of $38.1 billion, to be spent mostly on such green objectives as fresh water security, waste conversion, energy-efficient buildings, greater use of renewable energy, and development of low-carbon, high-mileage cars.
It’s clear that South Korea is saying goodbye to the grow-at-any-cost model of economic growth — the so-called “brown economy” — and is embracing the “green” economic model, where sustainability is the key. With that in mind, the government is spending 2 per cent of the country’s GDP annually to pursue its green agenda.
Since the main purpose is to lessen the country’s dependence on fuel imports and reduce carbon emission which has sharply increased in the last 15 years, developing renewable energy and promoting energy efficiency throughout the economy are the overwhelming priorities. Renewable energy contributed 2.7 per cent of the total energy supply in the country last year. The aim is to raise that share to 3.78 per cent by 2013, 6.08 per cent by 2020, and 11 per cent by 2030.
The strategy, naturally, is whatever it takes. There’s the sun, of course. By 2012, the country’s total installed solar capacity is to go up to 400 Mw from 168 Mw now. And there’s the wind. Korean companies are now working on developing 5 Mw wind turbines to reach the goal of 7,300 Mw of wind power capacity by 2020, against some 200 Mw now. Also tides. Tidal power plants are already operating in Shiwa Lake and new ones are proposed for Incheon and Garorim bays. From virtually nothing in 2008, 5.2 per cent of all renewable energy generated in South Korea is to come from tidal power by 2020.
Above all, there’s waste energy, already a big thing in South Korea, with 76 per cent of all its renewable energy derived from this source alone. In the immediate future, 25 landfill gas-collecting facilities are to be built all over the country, along with 48 new environmental energy plants and 17 facilities that will collect and reuse the remaining heat from incinerators.
At the same time, the country is going all out for energy saving and efficiency. Designing high-mileage automobile engines is just one part of this effort. Encouraging people to use public transport as often as they can is another. Public transport is likely to account for 55 per cent of all journeys In South Korea by 2013. The government is even building about 3,114 km of new bicycle lanes nationwide to encourage people to bike more.
By 2025, it will be mandatory for all buildings, private, commercial, or office, to use at least one of a range of energy alternatives. One million new green homes is the goal by 2020, based on solar, wind, geothermal, or biomass energy, while a million existing homes will be converted to greener ways. This is an important move, because, according to the Korean Institute of Construction Technology, buildings consume as much as 25 per cent of all energy consumed in the country.
In small, regional communities, 600 villages are to espouse low-carbon practices, while in eight areas around the country, 14 environment-friendly towns will be developed to emphasise green living. Green cities are the new trend in South Korea, the most famous being Songdo. Coming up entirely from scratch on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land along Incheon’s waterfront, it will be the world’s first “ubiquitous technology” city, where everything from energy management at home to accessing public services will be technology-driven. A similar green city is coming up south of Seoul, where box hedges will be grown on terraces built around each floor of skyscrapers.
And as the trenches are dug and troops deployed in South Korea’s great green war, a non-profit Global Green Growth Institute was opened last June in Seoul to coordinate battle strategies at home and advise green warriors everywhere.
With Han Seung-soo, a former South Korean prime minister, and chairman and professors Thomas Heller of Stanford University and Nicholas Stern of London School of Economics as members, the institute will especially help develop technologies and policies for environmentally sustainable growth. “Green growth is our national vision,” Han said at the opening ceremony and left no one in doubt that they are determined to transform that vision into reality.
rbarun@gmail.com
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