Seoul, South Korea
South Korea is attempting to bring about a new green revolution with its own hands in an attempt to both cut down on CO2 emissions and also to make their electricity market more efficient.
They’re pouring somewhere around the ballpark of $7.18 billion dollars into making a new smart grid for the country. There will be an annual spending of $358 million until 2016. At this point there will be about $2.1 billion spent per year on the project.
It’s estimated that by the year 2030, the complete investment will have been made. You might find yourself wondering what a smart grid could possibly do to help the country. The reason for this is that those using it will only find themselves using as much electricity as they need to.
Even when you try to consciously cut down on electricity usage, you don’t have as much control as you may want to on how much you use. With the implementation of this smart grid, consumers will have a much bigger grip on how much they consume as long as they remember to use home appliance monitoring and give feedback directly through the grid.
In recent years, South Korea has been investing heavily in green technologies and policies. Despite the fact that the nation has been listed as a high-carbon polluter within the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, critics have been praising the fact that it has been attempting to clean up its act.
For example, it has turned landfills into hydrogen generators, constructed gigantic gardens on rooftops and in some places has even replaced traditional automobiles with electric scooters for police officers. Compared to other countries it has been investing much more in alternative forms of energy. For example, it has been estimated that out of the 972.1 billion dollars included in the United States’ stimulus package, only 11.6 percent has been green technology.
In comparison, out of the 38 billion dollars in South Korea’s stimulus package, a whopping 80.5 percent of that includes green technology. Some countries are doing an even worse job. Japan received 485.9 billion in its stimulus package but only a minuscule 2.6 percent of that is green technology.
South Korea is leading the way for alternative energy usage. The nation’s highways are adorned with solar panels. Seoul is also covered in parks, restored tree-lined streams that were previously covered by urban development and plenty of other green gestures.
For its laudable efforts, the International Council of Societies of Industrial design named Seoul the World Design City for 2010. This is a title well deserved, but only time will tell how much the smart grid will contribute to cutting down on emissions.
Shannon Combs writes for http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org her personal hobby blog she uses to help people sell solar power back to the grid and share solar power articles for green business.
This post has been syndicated by Nathan Brown, the sustainable green construction recruiter for Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and provider of information on how to make homemade solar panels, including a make your own solar panel course.
Article sources: Cleantechnica.com, Reuters.com Images source: Shannon Combs
It’s great to see South Korea taking a lead in the green industry. I hadn’t heard of the smart grid before, but after a little reading, I look forward to the day that the US follows S. Koreas example. Great article, thanks!
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Funny interviews, but good tips. This is looking good for South Korea. Hope to hear more. Good article.
South Korea is one of the least environmentally-friendly countries in the world. The subsidised electricity results in massive waste.
“South Korea is leading the way for alternative energy usage. The nation’s highways are adorned with solar panels.”
What on earth are you talking about?
Max,
Having electricity subsidised is certainly problematic. Can you send me a source for this?
Also, regardless if South Korea is subsidising electricity, $7 billion going towards smart grid technology will certainly help spread the adoption of that important technology.
Nathan
Who said China is leading the way in green technology. I do have to say that after visiting S. Korea, the country is impressive in it’s own right! Very progressive and innovating. What a juxtaposition with it’s northern counterpart! Anyhow, here are a few tips getting your solar name out there: http://www.seobybert.com/65402/2011/02/16/top-3-seo-techniques-for-los-angeles-solar-installers.html
Max,
Having electricity subsidised is certainly problematic. Can you send me a source for this?
Also, regardless if South Korea is subsidising electricity, $7 billion going towards smart grid technology will certainly help spread the adoption of that important technology.
Nathan
A Smart Grid will cost hundreds of billions of dollars over time which we do not have. Utility company’s want total control over demand and would have the ability to reduce your power usage without your consent. Everything in your home that requires electricity would have an IP address that communicates with your Smart Meter. One solution is that Smart Meters and “Smart Devices” will communicate on a wireless network sending hundreds of RF signals per day which are proven harmful to humans. A Smart Grid will not lower utility bills by any significant amount and should not be viewed as a solution to reducing co2. Energy efficiency is by far the first thing on the list and we need to focus on localized generation to reduce demand. Deregulation of the utilities is what it’s all about, why continue to pay into the utility company’s??? Ideally it would come down to micro scale energy grids generated by renewable sources yet the major hurdle is integrating these systems into our current grid infrastructure. A Smart Grid is only part of the solution and needless to say does not solve all our problems.