Liquefied natural gas should not be considered green energy
Last Thursday, the Ministry of Environment released a guidebook on "K-taxonomy," presenting principles and standards concerning environmentally-friendly economic activity. It refers to the government's certification of eco-friendly activities ― a set of guidelines to induce capital flows into green investment and finance and prompt the substantive transformation of society to cope with the climate crisis. The exclusion of nuclear energy, which cannot be called a form of green energy, from the taxonomy guidebook was natural in this regard. However, the inclusion of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which produces lots of greenhouse gases to produce and transport, is worrying as it could give the wrong signal.
The guidebook classified as green 69 economic activities that meet six environmental goals, including greenhouse gas reduction and climate change adaptation. However, unlike the 64 "green" categories, the five "transitional" categories, newly established toward the end of the discussion, raise doubts as a possible compromise with businesses. The environment ministry explained the reason, saying, "We included these economic activities temporarily because they are transitionally necessary as the nation moves toward the ultimate destination of carbon neutrality."
As expected, environmental groups criticized the decision.
"LNG-fired power generation emits 70 percent of the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from coal power generation," they said. "It is highly likely to obstruct attaining carbon neutrality but will receive 'green financing' even with the government's certification." In comparison, discussions on a "traffic light system" are underway within the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to classify only activities that contribute to environmental goals as "green" while categorizing transitional activities as "yellow" and activities against that objective as "red."
Eco-friendliness and corporate profits are no longer a zero-sum game. The government should draw a mid- to long-term blueprint based on an unshakable environment-friendly policy. However, the environment ministry added a provision to reconsider whether to include nuclear power in the taxonomy after watching how the related discussion progresses in the EU. Atomic power generation will burden future generations because it takes several decades to decommission old reactors. It would be far better to speed up the energy transition by focusing on reactor-decommissioning technology and renewable energy research.
Last Thursday, the Ministry of Environment released a guidebook on "K-taxonomy," presenting principles and standards concerning environmentally-friendly economic activity. It refers to the government's certification of eco-friendly activities ― a set of guidelines to induce capital flows into green investment and finance and prompt the substantive transformation of society to cope with the climate crisis. The exclusion of nuclear energy, which cannot be called a form of green energy, from the taxonomy guidebook was natural in this regard. However, the inclusion of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which produces lots of greenhouse gases to produce and transport, is worrying as it could give the wrong signal.
The guidebook classified as green 69 economic activities that meet six environmental goals, including greenhouse gas reduction and climate change adaptation. However, unlike the 64 "green" categories, the five "transitional" categories, newly established toward the end of the discussion, raise doubts as a possible compromise with businesses. The environment ministry explained the reason, saying, "We included these economic activities temporarily because they are transitionally necessary as the nation moves toward the ultimate destination of carbon neutrality."
As expected, environmental groups criticized the decision.
"LNG-fired power generation emits 70 percent of the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from coal power generation," they said. "It is highly likely to obstruct attaining carbon neutrality but will receive 'green financing' even with the government's certification." In comparison, discussions on a "traffic light system" are underway within the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to classify only activities that contribute to environmental goals as "green" while categorizing transitional activities as "yellow" and activities against that objective as "red."
Eco-friendliness and corporate profits are no longer a zero-sum game. The government should draw a mid- to long-term blueprint based on an unshakable environment-friendly policy. However, the environment ministry added a provision to reconsider whether to include nuclear power in the taxonomy after watching how the related discussion progresses in the EU. Atomic power generation will burden future generations because it takes several decades to decommission old reactors. It would be far better to speed up the energy transition by focusing on reactor-decommissioning technology and renewable energy research.
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