• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.163-180
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• 2021

Nuclear power has been an attractive energy efficient and to the pressure with the climate change despite of its risks. There are safety, security, and environmental concerns with the nuclear radiation, but the techno-optimism forms the mainstream by experts and the state to be able to control and manage the risks yet occurred. The disastrous Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents brought about alternative action and thought including renewable energy expansion, efficient energy delivery and use, and enhancing stewardship to environmental carrying capacity. More significant alternative movement is sought by victims of nuclear radiation, technicians, and the general public who realized the pitfalls of expert and state centered policy formation. These laypersons become counter-expertise competent in recognizing local contamination and considering the risks and emotions seriously affecting peoples' everyday lives. They play important roles in the construction and legitimation of alternative knowledge about nuclear power widely realized across regions.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.284-292
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• 2022

Hydrogen is promising a candidate for energy supporting the carbon neutrality policy for greenhouse gas reduction, which is being promoted in several countries, including Korea. Although challenging efforts-such as lowering the costs of green hydrogen production and fuel cells-remain, hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are expected to play a significant role in the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. In line with this objective, the hydrogen FCEV working group in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) compiled and revised international standards related to hydrogen refueling stations as of 2019. A well-established hydrogen quality management system based on the standard documents will increase the reliability of hydrogen charging stations and accelerate the use of FCEVs. In this study, among the published ISO standards and other references, the main requirements for managing charging stations and developing related techniques were summarized and explained. To respond preemptively to the growing FCEV market, a continuous hydrogen quality monitoring method suitable for use at hydrogen charging stations was proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.45-57
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• 2022

The Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea is showing a lot of interest in net zero-energy buildings (NZEBs) to reduce energy consumption of military facilities and to promote green growth policy in military sector. The application of building passive technologies and renewable energies is essential to achieving NZEBs. This paper analyzed energy performance and energy cost on the conventional heating and cooling system (baseline scenario) and three different alternative scenarios (ALT 1, ALT 2 and ALT 3) applied in a hypothetical military building. A building modeling and simulation software (DesignBuilder V6.1) with EnergyPlus calculation engine was used to calculate the energy consumption for each scenario. Overall, when the GSHPs are applied to both space airconditioning and domestic hot water (DHW) production, Alt-2 and Alt-3, the amount of energy consumption for target building can be greatly reduced. In addition, when the building envelope performance is increased like Alt-3, the energy consumption can be further reduced. The annual energy cost analysis showed that the baseline was approximately 161 million KRW, while Alt-3 was approximately 33 million KRW. Therefore, it was analyzed that the initial construction cost increase could be recovered within about 6.7 years for ALT 3. The results of this study can help decision-makers to determine the optimal strategy for implementing GSHP systems in military buildings through energy performance and initial construction cost assessment.

• 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 the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.596-606
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• 2015

Recently, the government is promoting the new renewable energy spread and expansion policy. To this end, the investment and the research is ongoing on the core of the ESS (Energy Storage System) for the Smart Grid that is being spread around the industrialized countries. US and European countries have also conducted a variety of ESS related systems maintenance and improvement in order to induce the activation of the ESS industry. On the other hand, our country has no law and institutional foundation for the introduction of activation ESS, and there is no objective basis for the economic impact of the introduction of the ESS. Therefore, spread and activation of the ESS is not properly conducted. In this paper, the economics of the ESS based on the Korea electric pricing system for the spread and activation of the ESS effectively proposes a technique for analysis. To do this, define the ESS operating model, and propose the best economic analysis method economic analysis comparing each operating model.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.13-24
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• 2020

Many countries are actively engaging in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and as part of this effort, gradually reducing the portion of coal power generation and instead increasing the portion of power generations from renewable energy sources and natural gas. Korea is taking a similar policy to expand LNG power generation for the next decade. There is a concern, though, about the policy not being aligned with the domestic industry development, since only a few products are being made in Korea along the LNG power generation industry value chain. Therefore in this paper, we first looked at the current status of the gas turbine and high temperature parts industry used for LNG power generation in Korea, and then looked into the industrial issues and challenges through the analysis of supply chains of the domestic gas turbine industry. Finally, we tried to propose strategies to revitalize and localize the domestic gas turbine and high temperature parts industry. The proposed strategies can be summarized as 1) creation of domestic gas turbine manufacturing ecosystem via construction of gas turbine alliance, 2) strategic R&D support for localization of gas turbine and high temperature parts, and 3) provision of domestic testbeds for technology evaluation and commercialization.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.138-147
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• 2007

An emergy concept was used to evaluate the environment and economy of the Han River basin in Korea and to suggest policy perspectives far the sustainable utilization of its environment and associated estuarine ecosystem. The economy of the basin used $5.19{\times}10^{23}\;sej/yr$ of emergy in 2005. The economy of the Han River basin was heavily dependent on outside energy sources from foreign countries and other parts of Korea, with internal sources, renewable and nonrenewable, contributing only 15.6% to the total emergy use. The basin's trade balance in terms of emergy showed trade surplus, whereas there was a deficit in monetary terms. The population of the Han River basin was far greater than the carrying capacity calculated using the emergy flow, with renewable carrying capacity only at 1.8% of the basin's population and developed carrying capacity at 14.3%. The economy of the basin imposed a substantial stress on its environment, with an environmental loading ratio of 54.8. Overall, the economy of the Han River basin was not sustainable with an emergy sustainability of 0.02. These are reflected in lower quality of living expressed in the emergy term than the national average. Deconcentration of population and economic activities is needed to reduce environmental stress on the environment of the basin and its valuable estuarine ecosystem. Policies to restore ecosystem productivity of the basin are also needed to ensure the sustainability of the basin's economic activities and the sustainable utilization of the Han River estuary. In this regard, it is urgently needed for the Korean government to implement sustainable management measures for the Han River estuary, a well-preserved, productive natural estuarine ecosystem in Korea.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.243-254
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• 2019

With the recent accelerated policy-making and interests in new renewable energy, plans to develop and supply the new renewable energy have been devised across multiple regions in Korea. Solar energy, in particular, is being applied to small-scale power supply in provincial areas, as solar cells are used to convert solar energy into electric energy to produce electric power. Nonetheless, in the case of solar power plants, the need for a large stretch of land and considerable sum of financial support implies that the planning step should take into consideration the most suitable meteorological and geographical factors. In this study, the proxy variables of meteorological and geographical factors associated with solar energy were considered in analyzing the vulnerable areas regarding the photovoltaic power generation facility across the nation. GIS was used in the spatial analysis to develop a map for assessing the optimal location for photovoltaic power generation facility. The final vulnerability map developed in this study did not reveal any areas that exhibit vulnerability level 5 (very high) or 1 (very low). Jeollanam-do showed the largest value of vulnerability level 4 (high), while a large value of vulnerability level 3 (moderate) was shown by several administrative districts including Gwangju metropolitan city, Jeollabuk-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Gangwon-do. A value of vulnerability level 2 (low) was shown by the metropolitan cities including Daegu, Ulsan, and Incheon. When the 30 currently operating solar power plants were compared and reviewed, most were found to be in an area of vulnerability level 2 or 3, indicating that the locations were relatively suitable for solar energy. However, the limited data quantity for solar power plants, which is the limitation of this study, prevents the accuracy of the findings to be clearly established. Nevertheless, the significance of this study lies in that an attempt has been made to assess the vulnerability map for photovoltaic power generation facility targeting various regions across the nation, through the use of the GIS-based spatial analysis technique that takes into account the diverse meteorological and geographical factors. Furthermore, by presenting the data obtained for all regions across the nation, the findings of this study are likely to prove useful as the basic data in fields related to the photovoltaic power generation.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.119-133
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• 2013

This study aims to provide power generating plants with eco-efficiency information. To implement the purposes, of study, both DEA(Data, Envelopment Analysis) model and interview were incorporated in terms of methodologies. To analyze the managerial efficiency, total labor cost and number of employees were considered as input factors. CO2, NOx, and water also were considered as input factors to analyze eco-efficiency. Both annual total power product and annual total revenue were used as output factors. CRS(Constant Return to Scale) and VRS(Variable Return to) model were facilitated in this analysis. According to the findings, most of the power plants were evaluated as 'Efficient'' taking into consideration of average value, both 0.928 from CCR model and 0.969 from VRS model. 7 DMUs including DMU3 and DMU12 are efficient out of 35 DMUs relatively, other DMUs are inefficient. For results of inefficient output factors distribution, it was found that inefficiency for NOx was marked relatively higher than CO2. In order to improve the eco-efficiency in the power plants in the long term, the target amount of Co2 as well as NOx reduction needs to be properly proposed in consideration of particularity of power plants. In the long run, renewable energy, alternative fuels should be adapted to reduce the eco-inefficient.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.21-48
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• 2011

The paper affirms the weight proportion concept as an element, which could be empirically analyzed quantitatively through the developmental expansion of qualitative empirical analysis on taxonomy that is required for the construction Low-Carbon Green Cities and their eco-friendly elements, such as a pleasant residential environment The weight proportion concept is proposed as a new measure to identify eco-friendly elements and as an objective assessment indicators. To perform an empirical analysis, surveys were first given to the residents of Metropolitan Newtown (50 persons) and outside experts (50 persons) for the total of 100 persons. Second, the paper surveyed 74 sites of Eco-Environmental Certified Apartment Housing Complexes. Upon analysis of eco-friendly elements by their type and total weight, the largest weight proportion was expressed in the interior and eco-environmental elements, carbon-decrease types, and carbon-absorption types. The results of this paper confirm recent positive sentiments and preference toward a variety of future-oriented and sustainable eco-friendly elements like the eco-housing and new renewable energy, In addition, the paper affirmed the new housing trend towards constructing eco-friendly elements, such as carbon-decrease and carbon-absorption, that induce long-term investments, despite their need for higher investments.