• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.105-108
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• 2011

The increased concern for the security of the oil supply and the negative impact of fossil fuels on the environment, particularly greenhouse gas emissions, has put pressure on society to find renewable fuel alternatives. Compared to the traditional biofuel, ethanol, higher alcohols offer advantage as gasoline substitutes because of their higher energy density and lower hygroscopicity. For this reason, microbial fermentation is known as potential producers for sustainable energy carriers. In this study, bacterial responses including cellular and molecular toxicity were studied in three different microorganisms, such as Escherichia coli, Clostridium acetobutylicum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, it was analyzed specific stress responses caused by ethanol and buthanol using four different stress responsive genes, i.e. fabA, grpE, katG and recA. The expression levels of these genes were quantified by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. It was found that four genes have shown different responsive patterns when E. coli cultures were under stressful conditions caused by ethanol and buthanol, respectively. Therefore, in this study, the stress responsive effects caused by these alcohols and the extent of each stress response can be analyzed using the expression levels and patterns of different stress responsive genes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2007

Energy supply is increasingly showing up as a major issue for electricity supply, transportation, settlement, and process heat industrial supply including hydrogen production. Nuclear power is part of the solution. For electricity supply, as exemplified in Finland and France, the EPR brings an immediate answer; HTR could bring another solution in some specific cases. For other supply, mostly heat, the HTR brings a solution inaccessible to conventional nuclear power plants for very high or even high temperature. As fossil fuels costs increase and efforts to avoid generation of Greenhouse gases are implemented, a market for nuclear generated process heat will be developed. Following active developments in the 80's, HTR have been put on the back burner up to 5 years ago. Light water reactors are widely dominating the nuclear production field today. However, interest in the HTR technology was renewed in the past few years. Several commercial projects are actively promoted, most of them aiming at electricity production. ANTARES is today AREVA's response to the cogeneration market. It distinguishes itself from other concepts with its indirect cycle design powering a combined cycle power plant. Several reasons support this design choice, one of the most important of which is the design flexibility to adapt readily to combined heat and power applications. From the start, AREVA made the choice of such flexibility with the belief that the HTR market is not so much in competition with LWR in the sole electricity market but in the specific added value market of cogeneration and process heat. In view of the volatility of the costs of fossil fuels, AREVA's choice brings to the large industrial heat applications the fuel cost predictability of nuclear fuel with the efficiency of a high temperature heat source tree of Greenhouse gases emissions. The ANTARES module produces 600 MWth which can be split into the required process heat, the remaining power drives an adapted prorated electric plant. Depending on the process heat temperature and power needs, up to 80% of the nuclear heat is converted into useful power. An important feature of the design is the standardization of the heat source, as independent as possible of the process heat application. This should expedite licensing. The essential conditions for success include: ${\bullet}$ Timely adapted licensing process and regulations, codes and standards for such application and design ${\bullet}$ An industry oriented R&D program to meet the technological challenges making the best use of the international collaboration. Gen IV could be the vector ${\bullet}$ Identification of an end user(or a consortium of) willing to fund a FOAK

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.15-21
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• 2021

Electrically powered airplanes can reduce CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel use and reduce airplane costs in the long run through efficient energy use. For this reason, advanced aviation countries such as the United States and the European Union are leading the development of innovative technologies to implement the full-electric airplane in the future. Currently, the research and development to convert existing two-seater engine airplanes to electric-powered airplanes are underway domestically. The airplane converted to electric propulsion is the KLA-100, which aims to carry out a 30-minute flight test with a battery pack installed using the engine mounting space and copilot space. The lithium-ion battery installed on the airplane converted to electric propulsion was designed with a specific power of 150Wh/kg, weight of 200kg, and a C-rate 3~4. This study confirmed the possibility of a 30-minute flight with a designed battery pack before conducting a flight test of a modified electrically propelled airplane. The battery performance was verified by dividing the 30-minute flight profile into start/run stage, take-off stage, climbing stage, cruise stage, descending stage, and landing/run stage. The final target of the 30-minute flight was evaluated by calculating the battery capacity required for each stage. Furthermore, the flight performance of the electrically propelled airplane was determined by calculating the flight availability time and navigation distance according to the flight speed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.103 no.4
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• pp.593-598
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• 2014

In this study, we developed the carbon emission factors for 4 major species of warm-temperate region in Korea, and tried to provide their carbon emissions and removals estimates using these carbon emission factors. We selected Castanopsis cuspidata, Camellia japonica, Quercus acuta and Quercus glauca as target species and derived their carbon emission factors. The basic wood density that serve as one of the carbon emission factors were 0.583 for Castanopsis cuspidata, 0.657 for Camellia japonica, 0.833 for Quercus acuta and 0.763 for Quercus glauca and their uncertainties ranged from 5.3 to 17.9%. Biomass expansion factors were calculated as well: 1.386 for Castanopsis cuspidata, 2.621 for Camellia japonica, 1.701 for Quercus acuta and 2.123 for Quercus glauca and associated uncertainties varied from 14.7 to 30.5%. Lastly root-shoot ratios for each species were also determined: 0.454 for Castanopsis cuspidata, 0.356 for Camellia japonica, 0.191 for Quercus acuta and 0.299 for Quercus glauca with the uncertainties lying within a range from 19.8 to 35.7%. These three carbon emission factors including basic wood density had the uncertainties of less than 40% recommended by FAO. Therefore the application of country-specific emission factors seemed to provide quite accurate estimates of carbon emissions and removals. The estimation of the carbon stored in the 4 species were also conducted which amounted to $186.10tCO_2/ha$ for Castanopsis cuspidata, $280.63tCO_2/ha$ for Camellia japonica, $344.04tCO_2/ha$ for Quercus acuta and $278.91tCO_2/ha$ for Quercus glauca and their annual carbon removals were $6.65tCO_2/ha/yr$, $6.25tCO_2/ha/yr$, $11.70tCO_2/ha/yr$ and $12.29tCO_2/ha/yr$, respectively. This systematic assessment of forest resources can be a reliable source of information for managing evergreen broadleaved forest in warm temperate regions and thus serve as useful data for effective decision-making to address vegetation zone shifts due to climate change.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.95-107
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• 2014

The 'Green Start Movement' is a practical movement of green living to efficiently reduce the greenhouse gases originating from non-industrial fields such as household, commerce, transportation, etc. for the 'materialization of a low carbon society through green growth (Low Carbon, Green Korea)'. When the new government took office, following the Lee Myeongbak Administration that had presented 'Low Carbon, Green Growth' as a national vision, it was required to set up the direction of the practical movement of green life to respond to climate change persistently and stably as well as to evaluate the performance of the green start movement over the past 5 years. A questionnaire survey was administered to a total of 265 persons including public servants, members of environmental and non-environmental NGOs, participants of the green start movement and professionals. In the results of the questionnaire survey, many opinions have indicated that the awareness of the green start movement is increasing and the green start movement has had a positive impact on individual behavior and group behavior in terms of green living. The result shows, however, that the environmental NGOs don't cooperate sufficiently to create a 'green living' effect on a national scale. Action needs to be taken on the community level in order to generate a culture of environmental responsibility. The national administration office of the Green Start Movement Network should play the leading role between the government and environmental NGOs. The Green Start National Network should have greater autonomy and governance of the network needs to be restructured in order to work effectively. Also the Green Start Movement should identify specific local characteristics to support activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Best practices can be shared to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a substantial amount.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.303-317
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• 2022

Climate change caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions can alter the natural ecosystem, including the pollination ecosystem and agricultural ecology, which are ecological interactions between potted insects and plants. Many studies have reported that populations of wild bees, including bees and wasps (BW), which are the key pollinators, have gradually declined due to climate change, leading to adverse impacts on overall biodiversity, ultimately with agribusinesses and the life cycle of flowering plants. Therefore, we could infer that the rising temperature in Korean Peninsula (South Korea) due to global warming has led to climate change and influenced the wild bee's ecosystem. In this study, we surveyed the distributional pattern of BW (Superfamily: Apoidea, Vespoidea, and Chrysidoidea) at 51 sites from 2017 (37 sites) to 2018 (14 sites) to examine the effects of climatic factors on the nationwide distribution of BW in South Korea. Previous literature has confirmed that their distribution according to forest climate zones is significantly correlated with mean and accumulative temperatures. Based on the result, we predicted the effects of future climate changes on the BW distribution that appeared throughout South Korea and the species that appeared in specific climate zones using Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). The distributions of wild BW predicted by the SSP scenarios 2-4.5 and 5-8.5 according to the BIOMOD species distribution model revealed that common and endemic species will shift northward from the current habitat distribution by 2050 and 2100, respectively. Our study implies that climate change and its detrimental effect on the ecosystem is ongoing as the BW distribution in South Korea can change, causing the change in the ecosystem in the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, immediate efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions are warranted. We hope the findings of this study can inspire further research on the effects of climate change on pollination services and serve as the reference for making agricultural policy and BW conservation strategy

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.620-625
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• 2015

In an effort to reduce the onset of global warming, the International Maritime Organization Marine Environment Protection Committee (IMO MEPC) proposed the reduction in ship speeds as a way of lowering the proportion of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) in the Green House Gas emissions from ships. To minimize fuel costs, shipping companies have already been performing slow steaming for their own fleets. Specifically, the slow steaming approach has been adopted for most ocean-going container lines. In addition, because of the increased marine fuel cost that is required to enable increased capacity, there is an urgent need for more advanced fuel-saving technologies. Therefore, in this present study, we propose a fuel-cost reduction method that can improve the performance of diesel engines. We introduce a predetermined amount (0.025% of the amount of fuel used) of fuel additive (oil-soluble calcium-based organometallic compound). For improved experimental accuracy, as the test subjects, we utilize a large two-stroke diesel engine installed in land plants. The loads of the test engine were classified as low, medium, and high (50, 75, and 100%, respectively). We compare the engine performance parameters (power output, fuel consumption rate, p-max, and exhaust temperature) before and after the addition of fuel additives. Our experimental results, confirmed that we can realize fuel-cost savings of at least 2% by adding the fuel additive in low load conditions (50%). Likewise, the maximum combustion pressure was found to have increased. On the other hand, we observed that there was a reduction in the exhaust temperature.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.463-476
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• 2017

Climate change is considered as the greatest threat to our future and descendants. The Korean government has set a target for 2030 to reduce emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 37% from the business-as-usual levels which are projected to reach 851 million metric tons of $CO_2eq$ (Carbon dioxide equivalent). In Korea, GHGs emission from agriculture account for almost 3.1% of the total of anthropogenic GHGs. The GHGs emitted from agricultural land are largely classified into three types: carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), methane ($CH_4$), and nitrous oxide ($N_2O$). In Korea, rice paddies are one of the largest agricultural $CH_4$ sources. In order to analyze domestic research trends related to $CH_4$ emission from rice paddies, 93 academic publications including peer reviewed journals, books, working papers, reports, etc., published from 1995 to September 2017, were critically reviewed. The results were classified according to the research purposes. $CH_4$ characteristics and assessment were found to account for approximately 65.9% of the research trends, development of $CH_4$ emission factors for 9.5%, $CH_4$ emission reduction technology for 14.8%, and $CH_4$ emission modeling for 6.3%, etc. A number of research related to $CH_4$ emission characteristics and assessment have been studied in recent years, whereas further study on $CH_4$ emission factors are required to determine an accurate country-specific GHG emission from rice paddies. Future research should be directed toward both studies for reducing the release of $CH_4$ from rice paddies to the atmosphere and the understanding of the major controlling factors affecting $CH_4$ emission.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1827-1833
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• 2014

This study has been carried out to present the valuation system of soil carbon sequestration potentials of soil in accordance with the new climate change scenarios(RCP). For that, by analyzing variation of soil carbon of the each type of agricultural land use, it aims to develop technology to increase the amount of carbon emissions and sequestration. Among the factors which affects the estimation of determining the soil carbon model and influence power after the measurement on soil organic carbon, under the center of a causal relationship between the explanatory variables this study were investigated. Chemical fertilizers (NPK) decreased with increasing the amount of soil organic carbon and as with the first experimental results, when cultivating rice than pepper, the fact that soil organic carbon content increased has been found out. The higher the carbon dioxide concentration, the higher the amount of organic carbon in the soil and this result is reliable under a 10% significance level. On the other hand, soil organic carbon, humus carbon and hot water extractable carbon has been found out that was not affected the soils depth, sames as the result of the first year. The higher concentration of carbon dioxide, the higher carbon content of humus and hot water extractable carbon content. According to IPCC 2006 Guidelines and the new climate change scenario RCP 4.5 and the measurement results of the total amount of soil organic carbon to the crops due to abnormal climate weather, 1% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was found to be small when compared to the growing rate of increasing 0.01058% of organic carbon in the soil.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.422-434
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• 2016

This study was conducted to understand roles of $NO_x(=NO+NO_2)$ on high $O_3$ episodes at an urban monitoring station in Seoul. Concentrations of NO, $NO_2$, $NO_y$ and $O_3$ were measured intensively at KIST monitoring station which located at urban center in Seoul metropolitan area during May 18~June 13, 2015. Sampling period was planed because high $O_3$ and PM occurred frequently during from late spring to early summer months in Seoul. The experimental site locates in NW from center of Seoul and is surrounded by residential area. Belt highway of the city runs from north to west side nearby experimental site. Vehicle exhaust emissions due to heavy traffic influenced $NO_x$ concentration at the site during northwesterly wind. Specific $NO_2$ concentration was measured by Blue Light photolytic converter, and it was compared to $NO_2$ concentration measured by molybedenum converter. $[NO_2]_{phtolysis}$ was usually lower than $[NO_2]_{molybedenum}$ during the experiment period; however their diurnal variations were very similar. The linear relationship between these $NO_2$ concentrations was found to be $[NO_2]_{phtolysis}$=0.64 $[NO_2]_{molybedenum}$ - 2.6, $r^2$=0.83 during May 16~8, 2015. The difference between $NO_2$ by molybdenum converter and by photolytic converter (${\Delta}NO_2=[NO_2]_{molybedenum}-[NO_2]_{phtolysis}$) accounted for residual $NO_y$ which can represent $NO_z$ (=$NO_y-NO_x$). $O_3$ concentration showed typical daily trend which has maximum at late afternoon and minimum during the night. $O_3$ increased at a rate of 7 ppb/hr since 8 am. and reached the maximum concentration (~80 ppb) at 3 pm.. The diurnal pattern of $O_3$ was inversely related with that of $NO_2$, suggesting that the formation of $O_3$ was the result of photochemical activity of $NO_2$.