South Korea is facing depleting water and fossil fuel resources, and explains that it needs to develop alternative energy technologies and joint efforts from government, business, and the public to address the issue.
South Korea is classified as the 129th water-scarce country out of 153 countries in the world, with 1,453 cubic meters of water available per capita, which is the annual precipitation falling on the land area, excluding losses such as evapotranspiration, divided by the population. While government agencies and the media continue to talk about the need to conserve water, we still fail to turn off the toilet faucet, leave the water running, wash dishes, and take long showers. It’s as if we don’t realize that water is scarce and getting scarcer.
Water scarcity is a serious problem not only in Korea but around the world. According to the United Nations, about 40% of the world’s population is currently experiencing water scarcity, and this number is growing. It’s not just a lack of water, but also an increase in unusable water due to pollution. Solving these problems requires not only individual efforts, but also organized governmental management and international cooperation.
Water is not the only resource facing depletion. Fossil fuels are also rapidly depleting around the world. Even in Korea, where resources are scarce, the 10-point rule for cars implemented to reduce oil use is rarely followed, and electricity, which is stored by using many resources, is becoming scarce due to excessive electricity use at home. While resource scarcity is causing many problems around the world, we are accelerating the process of resource depletion by using more resources without realizing that they are running out. Therefore, there is an urgent need for alternative energy sources to prepare for future energy shortages.
So, what are the types of alternative energy? In Korea, the ‘Alternative Energy Development, Utilization, and Supply Promotion Act’ defines ‘alternative energy’ as energy other than oil, coal, nuclear power, and natural gas, including solar energy, bioenergy, wind power, hydropower, fuel cells, energy derived from liquefying and gasifying coal and gasifying heavy residue oil (the final residue left after refining crude oil), marine energy, waste energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy, and other energy prescribed by presidential decree (liquid fuel mixed with substances such as coal). This concept of alternative energy is similar in other countries.
Many of these alternatives are highly dependent on local environmental conditions. For example, tidal power generation can be highly efficient and generate a lot of electricity in oceans with large tidal differences. Tidal power plants such as the Incheon Bay Tidal Power Plant (planned) in Korea’s west coast and the Reims Tidal Power Plant in France can generate a large amount of energy, but it is difficult to install such power generation facilities in seas without tidal differences. In addition, most of the power generation facilities using alternative energy have very low energy efficiency, high construction costs, and low technology development stage, so they do not yet account for a large share of Korea’s electricity consumption.
To increase the efficiency of alternative energy, technology development is essential. Much research has been done in recent years, and solar and wind power generation technologies in particular have advanced considerably. For example, in the case of solar power, research is underway to use a new material called perovskite instead of traditional silicon-based solar panels to significantly increase efficiency. This material is low-cost and easy to manufacture, and is expected to be a game changer once it is commercialized. In wind power, research is also underway to develop smaller turbines that can be used in urban centers and smaller areas.
While there are still many limitations, alternative energies are emerging as a way to reduce the share of fossil fuels in electricity generation and address the issue of resource depletion. For example, the Reims tidal power plant in France was the world’s first tidal power plant and is still in operation today, generating 500 million kWh of electricity annually for the Reims region. In Korea, alternative energy is also being used in everyday life to replace fossil fuels. Wind power plants have been installed on Jeju Island and Daegwallyeong, which are windy, to generate electricity, and technologies have been developed to use solar energy to supply electricity to households and even satellites. Bioenergy is the utilization of fats and sugars from plants as fuel, and a refinery has announced plans to commercialize bio-butanol, which is made from sugars from sugar cane, waste wood, rice straw, and algae, to replace gasoline within this year.
The importance of alternative energy can also be emphasized in terms of environmental protection. The use of fossil fuels increases greenhouse gas emissions, which accelerate global warming, which melts polar ice caps, causes sea level rise, and contributes to climate change. Increasing the use of alternative energy will go a long way toward mitigating these environmental problems. Solar, wind, and hydropower emit virtually no greenhouse gases during operation, making them an important choice for a green and sustainable future.
The energy of the future for our next generation will need to be “environmentally friendly, affordable, and secure.” While the world is eager to develop and commercialize these energies, it is still a long way off, and investment is still lacking. Therefore, government investment is needed to fund the development of the technology, as well as voluntary participation from companies to develop the technology. At the same time, the general public will also need to participate in energy conservation and efficient use to help solve the problem of resource depletion. We all need to work together for a sustainable future.
