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Turning Waste into BioEnergy
Aided by a Swedish corporation The South Korean city of Ulsan is transforming waste into biogas, a clean fuel type that can be utilized for heating buildings, or even cars.Under pressure of the South Korean government, Korea is looking to increase the usage of biofuel and other environmentally sound alternatives in order to develop a new model that lays the emphasis on green growth.
As a response to ever stricter government policies regarding the environment, Ulsan, which houses over 1 million residents, saw biofuels as an effective alternative in order to combat its waste problems.With its waste disposal locations overflowing the waste water that comes from processing garbage into compost was flowing into the ocean unchecked.With new regulations coming up banning this type of waste disposal in 2013, the alternative to transform it into fuel looks more attractive than ever.
In order to assist in the development of environmentally friendly fuel alternatives the Ministry of Environment has expanded the budget for waste energy and has now 5 times more funds available for this purpose than it had before. Ulsan, home to many industrial corporations has come into action on the matter responding proactively to the new regulations that are coming, regarding waste disposal.
Biogas Fuels AB is a Swedish corporation and has been a leader in the field of biofuel development. The company has invested approximately €10 million into the upgrading of the plant and is about ready to accept organic waste to transform this into biofuel.
Turning waste into fuel is a very effective means of waste disposal, using the fuel for heating, generating electricity or power hybrid cars and other vehicles. The decrease in waste can be one of the key weapons against global warming. Simply disposing waste water into the ocean produces methane which has a great impact on the environment, because methane is twenty times more aggressive than carbon dioxide is. Therefore methane is a large factor when looking at causes for the so called greenhouse effect.
The city of Ulsan is not the only one looking at Sweden for help in managing its waste disposal problems. Seoul, which is home to approximately 10 million South Korean residents, has also joined up with International AB for a similar project on transforming waste into energy.
There is enormous potential for biofuel in South Korea but the country lacks the technology to produce it. This gives the Swedish corporations, which have mastered the techniques, opportunities to expand on this market which is rapidly growing. Estimates are that within 10 years biofuel will be the main energy source in Sweden. The Swedish company has entered into a 15 year agreement allowing them to exploit the facility. Currently a resident corporation in the city is buying the product for heating buildings. Ulsan, seeing the many advantages of producing biofuel, has set a goal to transform all public transportation in to biofueled ones. The main advantage of using the product from the plant is that energy from waste does not take resources away from the city but only adds to it.
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