Energy Conversion Forum’Top 10 News for Energy Conversion in 2020’… Korea’s first 8 SK companies to join RE100
The U.S. promises to return to the Paris Agreement, declares carbon neutral in 2050, and aims to achieve 100% clean energy by 2035
[에너지데일리 변국영 기자] The Energy Conversion Forum selected’Top 10 Domestic and International Energy Conversion News in 2020′ through votes from members. As a result, the news that received the most votes was’Korea Declaration of Carbon Neutrality’,’Corona Pandemic Hit the World’,’Climate Disaster’, and’U.S. President Biden’s Election’.
▲ Korea’s declaration of’carbon neutrality in 2050′
President Moon Jae-in officially declared the Republic of Korea’s goal of carbon neutrality in 2050 in a municipal speech on October 28 last year. This is the third in Asia after China and Japan. The European Union has already declared carbon neutrality in 2019.
In addition, before the President officially declared carbon neutrality, 226 local governments nationwide declared carbon neutrality in 2050 with the’emergency declaration of the climate crisis’, and 17 regional governments nationwide declared carbon neutral goals. The National Assembly also passed a resolution calling for a response to the climate crisis in 2050, calling for carbon neutrality and quick response to the climate crisis.
▲ A special report on the longest rainy season and national heatwave on the 54th
The rainy season unprecedented in history continued on the 54th day, recording the longest rainy season ever. In the rainy season in 2020, 42 people died or disappeared as a result of a flood of heavy rains, and more than 8,000 people were displaced.
Only 18 local governments have been declared as special disaster areas. All over the country’s agricultural lands were submerged. 3% of the rice cultivation area was flooded, and more than 1.8 million poultry, including chickens and ducks, and more than 600 pigs were swept away and died. On-line, the sentence’The name of this rain is not the rainy season, but the climate crisis’ was popular.
▲ 8 SK companies join RE100 for the first time in Korea
On November 2, last year, eight SK Group companies submitted applications for membership to the Korea RE100 Committee for the first time in Korea. SK Holdings, SK Telecom, SK Hynix, SKC, SK Siltron, SK Materials, SK Broadband, and SK IE Technology.
RE100 means that 100% of the electricity used by companies will be procured with electricity generated through renewable energy such as wind and solar energy by 2050. Eight companies sign a contract with a renewable energy generator and KEPCO to supply renewable energy with a’Power Direct Purchase Agreement (PPA)’, a’Green Rate’ that pays a premium to KEPCO to purchase electricity, and a renewable energy generation business. It announced that it plans to increase the ratio of renewable energy use through equity investment in In addition, affiliates such as SKE&S, SK Energy, and SK Gas, which are excluded from membership due to fossil fuel-related businesses, also announced that they plan to set targets similar to RE100 and expand the use of renewable energy.
▲ Announcement of electricity bill reform plan
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Electric Power Corporation confirmed and announced a plan to reform the electricity rate system on December 17 last year. It is the reorganization of the electricity tariff system in 7 years since 2013. The main contents of the reorganization plan are the establishment of a’fuel cost adjustment fee’ that periodically reflects fluctuations in fuel costs, and the additional costs of generating renewable energy and the cost of the emission trading system for reducing greenhouse gases are included in the rate without notifying consumers in the electricity rate. This is the introduction of the’Climate Environment Charge Separation Notice’, which transparently separates and notifies what was done, and the’Household Time-based Rate System’.
Until now, the electricity rate system has been criticized for being rigid and not linked to wholesale rates and retail rates, so it cannot provide price signals to consumers normally and its efficiency is low. Experts also pointed out that in order to move toward a carbon-neutral society and establish an efficient and advanced power market system, fundamental reforms in the rate system, such as normalizing electricity rates, are necessary.
▲ Closed Wolseong Unit 1… Controversy over the audit
On October 20 of last year, the Audit and Inspection Service announced the results of the audit of’Checking the feasibility of the decision to close the first nuclear power plant in Wolseong in Gyeongju.’ It has been 386 days since the National Assembly requested an audit from the Audit Office. The Board of Audit and Inspection said, “It is not a comprehensive judgment on the validity of the decision to suspend operation,” for the fact that the stability of the nuclear power plant and the acceptability of the local residents were not evaluated. And announced the results of the audit.
In addition, the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out that there are no regulations regarding the economic evaluation of old nuclear power plants. However, as it was pointed out that the audit result was a political audit, such as a limited evaluation limited to economic feasibility, a forced audit process, and the effect of the evaluation result on the validity of early closure, it was pointed out that the audit result was a political audit. The deletion of data led to a prosecution investigation.
Civic groups said, “Wolseong Unit 1 has already been ruled by the court that’the life extension is illegal’ due to the illegality of the life extension process. He also criticized him, saying, “I took it to this political shoe.”
Subsequently, the Governor of the Board of Audit and Inspection requested a public interest audit request for the early closing audit of the Wolseong Unit 1 and a request for a public interest audit for the life extension process of the Wolseong Unit 1, which was judged illegal by the court. Regarding this, the Board of Auditors has not yet disclosed whether or not the audit will be conducted, although it has to be determined and disclosed within 30 days from the date of receipt.
▲ The COVID-19 pandemic that stopped the global village
Corona 19, a new infectious disease with no cure or preventive vaccine, started in Wuhan, China in 2019 and has spread all over the world. The World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency in January of last year and officially declared a’global pandemic (pandemic)’ on March 12th. As of January 3, 2021, more than 80.5 million confirmed cases and more than 1.84 million deaths were recorded. Many scientists also pointed out that a new type of infectious disease, such as the corona 19 infectious disease, is caused by the destruction of the ecosystem and climate change. The global economy contracted due to the coronavirus, and greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 7% compared to the previous year.
▲ Climate disaster hit the world
The Australian wildfire, which lasted for six months until February 13, last year, burned 85% (about 18.6 million hectares) of the Korean Peninsula. As a result, more than 1 billion wild animals, including koalas, have been killed and more than 30% of their habitats have been destroyed by wildfires.
Even in Siberia, it exceeded 38 degrees for the first time in the history of observation due to abnormal high temperature. This was hotter than Seoul, where the heatwave warning was issued, and this high-temperature phenomenon has led to more than 200 severe wildfire damage, and emergencies have been declared in some areas.
In South Asia, a record heavy rain hit more than 4 million people, and Bangladesh is flooded with a third of the country’s land. East Asia also suffered great damage from China, Japan and Korea due to a long rainy season. In southern China, 158 people died or disappeared due to the worst flooding ever, and 55 million people were displaced as the world’s largest Shansa Dam faced a collapse crisis. The unprecedented heavy rain in Japan also killed 69 people and damaged 12,600 homes.
▲ U.S. President Biden elected
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential election was officially confirmed on December 14 last year (local time). Biden confirmed the election by securing 302 in the 538 electoral votes held in 50 US states and Washington.
Biden announced that he would re-join the Paris Climate Change Convention, which President Trump withdrew in 2017 as a presidential pledge, and pledged to push forward the policy to reach “net zero” of carbon emissions by 2050. It also pledged to eliminate carbon emissions from the power generation sector by 2035. Accordingly, a budget of about 2400 trillion won will be invested to expand investment in renewable energy and significantly improve energy efficiency.
▲Declaration of the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in China and Japan
As climate disaster hits the world, countries have announced policies to respond to the climate crisis. China, which has been passive in responding to the climate crisis, has announced that it will achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and Japan also announced a carbon neutral declaration to respond to the climate crisis by 2050. China, the world’s No. 1 greenhouse gas emission, and Japan, the 5th place, announced the carbon neutral declaration in 2050, and Korea also announced carbon neutrality, and all three major East Asian countries, which account for about 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions, declared carbon neutrality.
▲ RE100 emerges as a global eco-friendly standard
Global companies declare RE100 and are demanding that they not only procure their own electricity from renewable energy, but also use renewable energy from suppliers. Apple unveiled its plan to convert 100% renewable energy by 2030, demanded it from its supply chain, and received a promise from more than 70 partners to use 100% renewable energy to produce Apple products. Sony, a representative Japanese company, said, “If the Japanese government does not take measures to expand the conversion of renewable energy, it will eventually leave Japan to keep its promises with customers such as Apple.” It is also known that major automakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, and GM, which have declared RE100 in the electric vehicle battery industry, have requested low-carbon participation by LG Chem, SK Innovation, and Samsung SDI, which supply batteries.
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