A KORDI research ship unloads a deep-water mining robot, named “MineRo,” into the East Sea in June 2009. |
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff reporter
South Korea imports most of its energy needs from outside, leaving itself extremely vulnerable to sudden changes in the price of oil and other raw materials.
Coupled with the rapid depletion of natural resources, surging demand from China, India and other fast-growing emerging economies raises the price of crude and other commodities sharply, weighing heavily on the Korean economy.
To secure a stable supply of energy resources and achieve a sustainable growth, the nation should turn its eye to the sea and make larger investments to explore a range of minerals on the sea bottom, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) President Kang Jung-keuk stressed.
``To cut our reliance on oil and other conventional fossil fuels produced on land, we should proactively explore manganese nodules and other marine natural resources. We secured 75,000 square kilometers of open sea in the Pacific Ocean under which some 510 million tons of manganese nodules are estimated to be buried. Additionally, we secured the right to explore 20,000 square kilometers of the open water near the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific where around 300,000 tons of gold are likely buried,'' Kang said.
To more effectively mine manganese nodules and other minerals at the sea bottom, the institute has developed an unmanned robot, named ``MineRo.''
``We successfully tested it in the East Sea last year. It operated 100 meters below the sea level. In the near future, we will make it operational 5,000 meters below the surface,'' he said.
The institute is undertaking several economic feasibility studies on the construction of electric power plants using tidal currents in the West Sea, while working on the state-of-the-art technologies to produce bio-ethanol from marine algae.
``Generating electricity from tidal currents and extracting fuel from marine plants are environmentally friendly and renewable energies, which will help Korea reduce its imports of conventional fossil fuels, boost economic activities and create jobs. We will also make effort to foster a marine biotechnology sector by studying microorganisms that inhabit the most extreme living environments under the sea. By examining them, we could obtain materials for new medicines and create a range of benefits for humans,'' Kang said.
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