Korea Still Heavily Relies on Fossil Fuels
The OECD pointed out in its recent report that the ratio of use of renewable energy in South Korea is seriously low.
According to its report, renewable energy accounts for only 2 percent of the primary energy supply in South Korea, which is the lowest in the OECD, and only 8.3 percent of its production of electricity. On the other hand, fossil fuels represent 80 percent of the primary energy supply, including 31 percent from coal, and the ratio of coal is the fourth-highest in the OECD behind those of Estonia (71 percent), Poland (48 percent), the Czech Republic (35 percent) and Australia (35 percent).
The OECD warned about the danger of particulate matter, too. “Although the quality of air was temporarily improved in the first half thanks to favorable weather conditions, social distancing and seasonal particulate matter control, most South Koreans are still exposed to particulate matter exceeding the threshold value set by the WHO,” it said, adding, “Especially, the particulate matter concentration in Seoul, which is almost twice the threshold, is significantly raising the premature mortality and affecting children’s health.”
“Although the South Korean government is shutting down coal-fired power plants and taking additional measures in order to reduce the country’s particulate matter by 35 percent from 2016 to 2024, more efforts are required to meet the WHO standards,” it went on to say, continuing, “More aggressive measures are needed for South Korea to achieve its goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent by 2030 and the examples include a cut in capacity payment to coal-fired power plants.”
The OECD called South Korea’s lower electricity price into question as well, saying that the low price is hindering the market entry of renewable energy and investment in power demand control. According to IEA data covering 33 countries, the price of electricity supplied to households was US$110.5 per MWh in 2018, the third-lowest behind Mexico’s US$62.9 and Turkey’s US$103.9. On the contrary, the price was as high as US$358 in Denmark and US$239 in Japan.