'Microbes key to solving energy problems'

Younghoon David Kim, center, chairman and CEO of Daesung Group and chairma of the World Energy Council, and other participants discuss future possibilities of using micro biotechnology as a new energy source during The Korea Times roundtable discussion at the Westin Chosun Seoul hotel, June 21. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Baek Byung-yeul

"White" biotechnology can provide an alternative to fossil fuels and lower carbon emissions, amid growing public concerns about global warming and other environmental challenges, according to the chairman of Daesung Group.

Younghoon David Kim, who heads the mid-tier energy conglomerate, said white biotechnology, which refers to using microbial cells and their enzymes to produce eco-friendly chemical products, biofuels, pharmaceutical products, foods and other materials, has emerged as a key to address environmental issues.

On June 21, Kim and other energy experts in chemical engineering and microbiology gathered for The Korea Times roundtable discussion. Under the subject of "the promise of harvesting energy from microbes," they shared their knowledge, vision and policy to find ways to further use microbes as energy sources.

The chairman said white biotechnology can also be an answer to renewable energy, which cannot be effectively utilized before appropriate energy storage technology is developed because it is dependent on intermittent power sources such as wind and solar.

"Despite all the good things, renewable energy, which covers the shortfalls of fossil fuels, has the serious problem of the intermittent nature. The dilemma is energy storage is not recyclable and is concentrated on very certain locations," Kim said during the discussion session at the Westin Chosun Seoul hotel.

"Renewable energy also has safety problems because we have seen a lot of explosions in storages. So we have to go for other alternatives, an alternative for the alternative. That is why I am very serious about microbial energy."

Kim, who also chairs the London-based World Energy Council, has held the Daesung Haegang Microbes Forum annually in the belief that the future of energy and the environment is in the biotechnology.

Experts in chemical engineering and microbiology pose before the start of The Korea Times roundtable discussion at the Westin Chosun Seoul hotel, June 21. From left are Derek Lovley, a professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst; Younghoon David Kim, chairman and CEO of Daesung Group; Kristala Prather, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Oh Young-jin, digital managing editor of The Korea Times; and Park Sung-hoon, a professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

During this year's forum on June 20, Kim emphasized the need for close cooperation between the private and academic sectors and government support to ensure that microbial technologies can become another option for the current administration's anti-nuclear policy.

Kim has been actively engaged in the white biotechnology industry here for more than a decade. Since 2006, Daesung Eco-Energy, a Daesung Group affiliate, has been extracting gas from its landfill gas-to-energy plant in Daegu. On an annual basis, Daesung collects about 50 million cubic meters of gas which is used as boiler fuel for 15,000 households.

As the country's leading solution provider, Kim also revealed that he plans to expand the white biotechnology business in cooperation with companies specialized in the area.

"In cooperation with German-based EnviTec Biogas, we plan to go together into countries like Vietnam and Colombia. We would like to use the two countries as outposts to get into huge emerging markets in South America and Southeast Asia," Kim said.

"Daesung is a traditional producer of methane gas and distributor and EnviTec Biogas has technology for cooking microbes. I think there is a huge blue ocean before us."

The global white biotechnology market is estimated at $238.9 billion in 2017, according to industry data, and expected to grow to $472.3 billion by 2025 with an average annual growth rate of 8.9 percent.

Despite its huge potential, however, experts joining the roundtable said there should be more investments in white biotechnology from the private sector.

"There are still some challenges in demonstrating biological solutions at scale. I think most of the public think they have to do something about climate change and greenhouse gasses and we, scientists, have a lot of ideas but some of them are proving them at large scale but others are not," said Kristala Prather, a chemical engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, adding there needs to be more investment in testing out all possibilities of white biotechnology.

Derek Lovley, a professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst, also urged the private sector to expand spending on white biotechnology.

"It is a unique new area to open new possibilities in the energy field because the input energy has no toxic materials and no metals compared to traditional energy. However there should be more investment to develop this technology," Lovley said.

'Korea's anti-nuclear policy is too drastic'

The panel also shared their thoughts on phasing out nuclear energy saying the international community should exert more efforts to reduce the use of nuclear power plants as a source of electricity generation.

"I am not an expert in nuclear energy but in the long term the United States will never figure out how to deal with nuclear waste because nobody knows what to do. We are just pushing the problems to the next generation," Lovley said.

Park Sung-hoon, a chemical engineering professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), said: "We have been generating too much waste from generating energy such as carbon dioxide or nuclear waste. No matter what kinds of energy we are using now, this means future generations should have to come up with technologies to deal with these wastes."

After the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan in 2011, many countries have made moves to phase out nuclear power. The Moon Jae-in administration also has been pushing forward its anti-nuclear policy.

For countries such as Korea that are struggling with energy security, the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price, using nuclear power as a source for generating electricity is almost essential.

The panel said nuclear energy should work in tandem with renewable energy such as wind, hydrogen power or solar energy because nuclear energy cannot be replaced with those renewable energy sources due to technological limitations.

Park said the government's anti-nuclear policy "is a welcoming move for us, working in renewable or bio energy fields," but those professionals have also been feeling that the move is "too drastic."

"In terms of improving research effort and setting up the future direction of energy policy, I believe that the use of nuclear energy should be reduced gradually and we should adopt more renewable energy for the future of our society," he said.

"But the speed of the adoption of renewable energy is quite important. Even though the direction is very correct, the speed is too much fast. It is like driving on the highway at the speed of 200 kilometers per hour. If the government is trying to make a change in energy use, they should come with more long-term and viable plans."

Prather emphasized that governments should focus on setting up measures that can help close the usage gap between renewable energy and nuclear power.

"We all understand the benefits of nuclear energy. I don't think people would be in favor of shutting down all nuclear energy because we have to prepare for replacement of nuclear energy. Fukushima was really bad. As a human being, you don't want to consider that happening in your country. My hope is that the governments will actually provide more incentives to alternative energy to narrow the gap so that we can speed up the development of alternative energy," Prather said.