W3 Tril. Set for Waste Reclying Into Energy
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The government said it will invest more than 3 trillion won ($3 billion) to build and upgrade facilities to turn waste into new energy resources by 2012.
It expects 3.8 million tons of waste to produce 2,817 GW of electricity by that year, replacing 4.9 million barrels of crude oil consumption, the Ministry of Environment said Tuesday. The projects are expected to create 17,000 new jobs and allow the nation to save about 1.3 trillion won in costs to dispose of waste, it said.
Waste dumped into the sea or buried will also be collected to extract gas or gasoline, Environment Minister Lee Maan-ee reported to a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.
The government's approach comes amid soaring oil prices while the amount of energy resources the government can secure is limited, a ministry official Choi Byeong-cheol said. By 2020, they aim to turn all combustible waste into energy resources.
To attract local governments to re-generation plants, the government will cut subsidies and tighten regulations on constructing landfills and waste incineration facilities from 2010.
Fifty-seven facilities for power generation will be constructed by 2012.
The ministry expects the project to save 857 billion won in waste disposal and 434 billion won in crude oil costs per year. Also, it will save on fossil oil usage and help secure 49.6 billion won worth of carbon emission rights on the carbon dioxide market.
According to the environment ministry, Koreans generate 318,000 tons of waste a day. Out of this, 35,000 tons are dumped into the sea. The ministry assumes a large amount of it to be recyclable.