Northeast Asian Researchers Gather to Combat 'Ultrafine Dust'

2020 Climate and Environmental Research and Development Project Implementation Plan

The cityscape viewed from Namsan in Seoul on the 12th, when the fine dust concentration was at the 'Bad' level, is shrouded in fine dust. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] Starting next year, efforts to address fine dust in the Northeast Asia region will commence. Projects to convert carbon into useful materials and develop technologies to minimize climate change impacts will also be undertaken.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 16th that it has finalized the 2020 Climate and Environment Research and Development Project Implementation Plan and will actively promote the project.

Fine Dust Response

The government will invest 134 billion KRW in climate change response this year, an increase of 14.3% compared to the previous year. Through this, research and development support for fine dust response directly related to the public’s daily life will be strengthened, and research and development in the fields of energy and carbon resource utilization to support the transition to eco-friendly alternative energy and greenhouse gas reduction will be conducted.

First, scientific analysis of the chemical and physical properties of fine dust particles will begin to address fine dust. Research to identify the causes of fine dust pollution sources (8 billion KRW) will also be conducted. Subsequently, international cooperative research with Northeast Asian researchers (4.5 billion KRW) will be initiated.

Research to utilize carbon as a resource (Carbon to X) will also start. This year, 29.7 billion KRW will be invested to support carbon conversion research and development, and technologies with proven concepts will be advanced to the initial demonstration stage. The carbon dioxide capture and processing project, which has been pursued for the past decade, will also enhance technology completeness and transfer technology to the private sector.

Next-Generation Energy Research

A total of 64.4 billion KRW will be spent on climate change response technology development projects, including next-generation energy development, which is a major investment area of the climate and environment research and development project. In the new energy sector such as hydrogen, 26.9 billion KRW will be invested in eco-friendly and high-efficiency hydrogen production and storage methods, as well as the development of core materials and components for fuel cells.

In addition, the government will also focus on investments in renewable energy fields such as solar cells and bioenergy, and technology development for the optimal integrated operation of distributed energy resources.

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "This year, we plan to focus on stably supporting existing research and development projects to produce results, activate sharing, dissemination, and technology transfer of the research outcomes created so far, and enhance the evaluation of research results." They added, "According to the finalized implementation plan, we will sequentially announce new projects starting at the end of January and begin full-scale support."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.