• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.826-832
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• 2016

Reduced greenhouse gas effect induced by LID (Low Impact Development) technique application in tramway construction was quantified to increase environmental benefit as part of an overall economic assessment. In addition, by application of penetration type permeable blocks, the effect of the urban water cycle was examined as a special assessment item in the policy analysis. The carbon emission ratios of the permeable turf block, according to the turf coverage rate (100%, 50% granite, and 50% HDPE), against the concrete track construction were -184.7%, -127.3%, and -116.3%, respectively. The carbon emission ratios of permeable blocks with granite and HDPE were 30.1% and 52.5%. In the case of the penetration type permeable block, it was possible to store rainfall in the block until 90mm/hr of rainfall intensity (94.3% of water reserve rate); therefore, this method was effective as part of the urban water cycle system. As a result, an increased environmental benefit from LID technique application is expected in tramway construction; this needs to be considered as a policy factor in AHP analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.793-802
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• 2009

Adsorption properties were estimated for the organic silicon compounds (siloxanes) in an actual landfill gas (LFG) using adsorbents such as coconut activated carbon, coal activated carbon, silica gel, sulfur adsorbent, carbonized sludge, and molecular sieve 13X. Coconut activated carbon showed the highest removal efficiency of more than 95%. The desorption of hexamethyldisiloxane (L2) from the adsorbent, however, resulted in the remarkable concentration variation of the compound in the treated gas. Silica gel, which had high adsorption capacity for L2 in single substance adsorption experiment in the other study, could not remove the component in the actual landfill gas while it adsorbed well octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) in the LFG. Therefore the elimination of hexamethyldisiloxane is an important factor to determine the level of total organosilicon compound in pretreated landfill gas. Moreover, the L2 from the actual landfill gas was effectively adsorbed by the serial adsorption test using two columns packed with coconut activated carbon which has the great capacity of siloxanes removal among others. In order to utilize efficiently LFG as a renewable energy, the emission and adsorptive characteristics of the substance to be treated should be considered for the organization, operation, and management of pretreatment process.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2022

Electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction technology, one of the promising solutions for climate change, can convert CO₂, a representative greenhouse gas (GHG), into valuable base chemicals using electric energy. In particular, carbon monoxide (CO), among various candidate products, is attracting much attention from both academia and industry because of its high Faraday efficiency, promising economic feasibility, and relatively large market size. Although numerous previous studies have recently analyzed the GHG reduction potential of this technology, the assumptions made and inventory data used are neither consistent nor transparent. In this study, a comparative life cycle assessment was carried out to analyze the potential for reducing GHG emissions in the electrochemical CO production process in a more transparent way. By defining three different system boundaries, the global warming impact was compared with that of a fossil fuel-based CO production process. The results confirmed that the emission factor of electric energy supplied to CO₂-electrolyzers should be much lower than that of the current national power generation sector in order to mitigate GHG emissions by replacing conventional CO production with electrochemical CO production. Also, it is important to disclose transparently inventory data of the conventional CO production process for a more reliable analysis of GHG reduction potential.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2017

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (FEMFC) is a strong candidate for future automobile and power generation because of its high power density, low emission and low operation temperature. The major concerns of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) inside a FEMFC is water management. The GDL is typically comprised of carbon for electrical conductivity and PTFE for Hydrophobicity. In this simulation, GDL flooding was investigated using a simplified approach method of an established equation models(Fick' Law, Darcy, Law, Stefan-Maxwell diffusion). The performance of GDL was shown using result of the inner heat, water density and oxygen density of the cell using model equations. The catalyst layer mode in FEMFC showed results of effectiveness factor, Butler-volmer and hydrogen flux density. These results are interesting because the influence of several factors has been shown and the information will be helpful for fuel cell design.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.203-214
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• 2000

Health risk assessment is applied to streamlining LCA(Life Cycle Assessment) using Monte carlo simulation for probabilistic/stochastic exposure and risk distribution analysis caused by data variability and uncertainty. A case study was carried out to find benefits of this application. BTC(Benzene, Trichloroethylene, Carbon tetrachloride mixture alias) personal exposure cases were assumed as production worker(in workplace), manager(in office) and business man(outdoor). These cases were different from occupational retention time and exposure concentration for BTC consumption pattern. The result of cancer risk in these 3 scenario cases were estimated as $1.72E-4{\pm}1.2E+0$(production worker; case A), $9.62E-5{\pm}1.44E-5$(manger; case B), $6.90E-5{\pm}1.16E+0$(business man; case C), respectively. Portions of over acceptable risk 1.00E-4(assumed standard) were 99.85%, 38.89% and 0.61%, respectively. Estimated BTC risk was log-normal pattern, but some of distributions did not have any formal patterns. Except first impact factor(BTC emission quantity), sensitivity analysis showed that main effective factor was retention time in their occupational exposure sites. This case study is a good example to cover that LCA with probabilistic risk analysis tool can supply various significant information such as statistical distribution including personal/environmental exposure level, daily time activity pattern and individual susceptibility. Further research is needed for investigating real data of these input variables and personal exposure concentration and application of this study methodology.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.358-383
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• 2015

The concept of 'carbon footprint' has been developed as a means of quantifying the specific emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause global warming. Although there are still neither clear definitions of the term nor rules for units or the scope of its estimation, it is broadly accepted that the carbon footprint is the total amount of GHGs, expressed as $CO_2$ equivalents, emitted into the atmosphere directly or indirectly at all processes of the production by an individual or organization. According to the ISO/TS 14067, the carbon footprint of a product is calculated by multiplying the units of activity of processes that emit GHGs by emission factor of the processes, and by summing them up. Based on this, 'carbon labelling' system has been implemented in various ways over the world to provide consumers the opportunities of comparison and choice, and to encourage voluntary activities of producers to reduce GHG emissions. In the agricultural sector, as a judgment basis to help purchaser with ethical consumption, 'low-carbon agricultural and livestock products certification' system is expected to have more utilization value. In this process, the 'cradle to gate' approach (which excludes stages for usage and disposal) is mainly used to set the boundaries of the life cycle assessment for agricultural products. The estimation of carbon footprint for the entire agricultural and forestry sector should take both removals and emissions into account in the "National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report". The carbon accumulation in the biomass of perennial trees in cropland should be considered also to reduce the total GHG emissions. In order to accomplish this, tower-based flux measurements can be used, which provide a direct quantification of $CO_2$ exchange during the entire life cycle. Carbon footprint information can be combined with other indicators to develop more holistic assessment indicators for sustainable agricultural and forestry ecosystems.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.125-148
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• 2014

This paper performs a historical analysis on the various factors contributing to the current carbon lock-in of Korean electricity industry by using techo-institutional complex. The possibilities of the industry's carbon lock-out toward more sustainable development are also investigated. It turns out that market, firm, consumer, and government factors are all responsible for the development of the carbon lock-in of Korean power industry; the Korean government consistently favoring large power plants based on the economy of scale; below-cost electricity tariff; inflation policy to suppress increases in power price; rapid demand growth in summer and winter seasons; rigidities of electricity tariff; and expansion of gas-fired and imported coal-fired large power plants. On the other hand, except for nuclear power generation and smart grid, environment laws and new and renewable energy laws are the other remaining factors contributing to the carbon lock-out. Considering three key points that Korea is an export-oriented economy, the generation mix is the most critical factor to decide the amounts of carbon emission in the power industry, and the share of industry and commercial power consumption is over 85%, it is unlikely that Korea will achieve the carbon lock-out of power industry in the near future. Therefore, there are needs for more integrated approaches from market, firm, consumer, and government all together in order to achieve the carbon lock-out in the electricity industry. Firstly, from the market perspective, it is necessary to persue more active new and renewable energy penetration and to guarantee consumer choices by mitigating the incumbent's monopoly power as in the OECD countries. Secondly, from the firm perspective, the promotion of distributed energy system is urgent, which includes new and renewable resources and demand resources. Thirdly, from the consumer perspective, more green choices in the power tariff and customer awareness on the carbon lock-out are needed. Lastly, the government shall urgently improve power planning frameworks to include the various externalities that were not properly reflected in the past such as environmental and social conflict costs.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.283-292
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• 2015

The total global emission of $CO_2$ from soils is recognized as one of the largest fluxes in the global carbon cycle. Especially it is necessary to quantify the amount of $CO_2$ emitted by the organic material decomposition processes of microorganisms in the soil, because it becomes one of a factor for determining the carbon stocks in the soil. This study was conducted to estimate the impact of the Korean water deer(Hydropotes inermis)' feces to the soil organic matter. Also, effects of Korean water deer' feces on $CO_2$ emissions of soil and land use pattern dependent $CO_2$ flux quantification are studied. The organic materials in the Korean water deer' feces significantly changed organic matter content of soil and influenced the activity of soil microorganisms, both changing of respiration of the soil and physical chemical components in soil. In particular, C/N ratio and the $CO_2$ flux of soil of four regions (Rice paddy, Fallow ground, Salix koreensis community, Phragmites australis community) showed a statistically highly significant correlation (P<0.01) with the presence or absence of feces. $CO_2$ flux of soil affected by the feces was 2-20 times higher than the soil unaffected by the feces. This study has great significance to quantify the extent of the material circulation and its impact to the terrestrial ecosystem and soil zone throughout Korean water deer' feces. Feces of wildlife can affect soil and soil material circulation.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.52-60
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• 2018

In the construction industry, attempts to evaluate the environmental impact of products through life cycle assessment (LCA) approach has been on the rise. However, the domestic construction industry needs to make rapid decisions due to limited budget and schedule, so it is difficult to carry out a review of the environmental load on all resources. The decision-making process requires information on the major influence factors that should be focused on to reduce environmental load. And this information should be quantified so that it can be linked to environmental impact assessment. In this study, the LCA results of road construction cases were analyzed to provide such information. As a result, diesel, ready-mixed concrete, urethane-based paint, aggregate, and asphalt concrete were found to be the main factors that generated 93.17% of the environmental load in the earthwork type of road project. The total environmental cost caused by these affecting factors when constructing 1 km of earthwork type of road project is 242 million won. The analysis also shows that a 10% reduction in the amount of ready-mixed and asphalt concretes can reduce carbon emissions by 5.02% and 2.28% while reducing environmental costs by 11 million won per kilometer. In order to reduce carbon emissions of the earthwork type of road project, it is necessary to actively develop and introduce new methods and eco-friendly materials to reduce the overall use of ready-mixed concrete and asphalt concrete.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.691-697
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• 2011

In this study, by using the Water footprint technique, the water consumption by washing machines, which holds higher ranks in using water than any other electric appliances, was analyzed during their life cycle. The life cycle is defined as raw materials production step, manufacturing step, and using step. In raw materials production step, Input materials were researched by using LCI DB(Life Cycle Inventory Database) and the water consumption was calculated with consideration of approximately 65% Input materials which were based weight. In manufacturing step, the water consumption was calculated by the amount of energy used in assembly factories and components subcontractors and emission factor of energy. In using step, referring to guidelines on carbon footprint labeling, the life cycle is applied as 5 years for a washing machine and 218 cycles for annual bounds of usage. The water and power consumption for operating was calculated by referring to posted materials on the manufacture's websites. The water consumption by nation unit was calculated with the result of water consumption by a unit of washing machine. As a result, it shows that water consumption per life cycle s 110,105 kg/unit. The water consumption of each step is 90,495 kg/unit for using, 18,603 kg for raw materials production and 1,006 kg/unit for manufacturing, which apparently shows that the using step consume the most water resource. The water consumption by nation unit is 371,269,584tons in total based on 2006, 83,385,649 tons in both steps of raw material production and manufacturing, and 287,883,935 tons in using step.