Emissions Control

EWP signs the
EWP signs the "Technology Cooperation for CUPO (Coal Upgrading by Palm Oil Residue) Project in Indonesia" with GS E&C.

 

Reducing the emission of greenhouse gases has been a tough burden for the whole world. As we has become more and more aware of the seriousness of greenhouse gases, countries have gathered together to take actions to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide and other harmful gases released in the air. Through the Earth Summit, otherwise known as United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), then onto the Kyoto Protocol to set up the guidelines, many countries agreed to limit the amount of gas emissions. Initially, South Korea was not subject to follow this guideline, but it voluntarily agreed to participate in 2008.

In 2012, South Korea enacted the Emission Trading Scheme to be implemented in 2015. For the first phase, the total amount of allowed emission is 1.64 billion tons. In May 2014, the Ministry of Environment (ME) announced the National Gas Emission Allocation Scheme to be followed in all industries in Korea.

Opposing the announcement, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), six other economic organizations, and 18 associations submitted a joint statement on June 1. Their argument was that ME had not considered future industrial growth and overly cut down on the gas emission based on old data, and following the guideline will eventually damage industrial competitiveness. This incident alone proves the amount of pressure gas emissions place on countries.

Lightening the burden, Korea East-West Power (EWP) has contributed to a cleaner environment. Last May, Korea East-West Power (EWP) signed the contract “Technology Cooperation for CUPO (Coal Upgrading by Palm Oil Residue) Project in Indonesia” with GS E&C. This agreement was signed for a feasibility study to export the CUPO technology to Indonesia. With CUPO technology, low-quality coal with high moisture content goes through drying and stabilizing process to minimize the reabsorption of moisture. Then the finished products get transferred to Korea.

To enable this technology, EWP went through R&D with Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) for four years marked under the 19.8 billion won (US$19.3 million) national policy assignment, ultimately achieving in increasing the calorie from 4,200 kcal/kg to 6,500 kcal/kg. The coal is classified as low quality when the heat value is under 5700kcal/kg, ash content over 20 percent, or sulfur content over 1.0 percent.

EWP and GS E&C are on their way to building a coal manufacturing facility in Indonesia with the capacity of producing 5,000 tons per day. According to the agreement, EWP will be in charge of applying the CUPO technology and examining the effect on the boilers and other energy-generating facilities. GS E&C will be in charge of building plants and acquiring the suppliers.

When the facility with built-in CUPO technology is installed in Indonesia, where 40 percent of all coals in Korea already comes from, it will result in reduced cost of transportation due to delivering upgraded coal. It will also contribute to cleaner air for the upgraded coal will emit less greenhouse gas.

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