By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

LG Chem has become the first South Korean company to be approved by the United Nations (U.N.) for its clean development mechanism (CDM) project.

Its fuel-switching project in Naju, South Jeolla Province, has been registered in the U.N. and the company secured some 5 billion won ($3.9 million) worth of carbon emission rights, the company said Sunday.

This means the company, for the next 10 years, can invest in projects in other countries that would emit up to 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxides (CO2) or its equivalent, according to certified emission reductions (CERs) issued by an executive board of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The carbon credits are based on the emissions-reduction achievement of the project.

The project at its Naju Plant retrofits boilers producing steam for the production process of petrochemical products to allow switching from bunker fuel oil C to natural gas, and was approved by the government in 2007.

It is estimated that the project will lead to a reduction of 225,040 metric tons of emissions over a 10-year period. The project is also expected to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in the local area once the natural gas station is established, as natural gas will be supplied to the Naju area for household fuel, according to LG Chem.

``This is a successful case proving that companies can contribute to sustainable development in the region, as well as pursue profits,'' LG Chem Vice Chairman Kim Bahn-suk said in a statement.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the U.N.-managed CDM allows countries that have reduced greenhouse emissions to invest in projects which reduce emissions in developing countries in an attempt to reduce costs to be used in the same projects in their own countries.

South Korea's CDM business is the world's fourth largest with 146 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. The country is currently not subject to the emissions-cutting obligation under the Kyoto Protocol, but is likely to join the protocol in 2013.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr