"Renewable Energy Share to Reach 80% by 2050... Coal Power to Hit Zero"

President Moon Jae-in declaring at the National Assembly policy speech on the 28th of last month, "We will move forward with the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050." (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has decided to expand the share of renewable energy generation to up to 80% over the next 30 years to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, while reducing the share of coal-fired power generation to 'zero (0)'. It also presented a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 24.4% compared to 2017 by 2030. However, the government has not provided specific implementation measures to realize these aggressive goals.

The Ministry of Environment and the National Assembly Climate Change Forum disclosed the '2050 Long-term Low Carbon Development Strategy (LEDS)' and the '2030 National Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target (NDC)' at a public hearing held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 19th.

The government plans to submit the official report to the United Nations (UN) after deliberation at the Cabinet meeting next month, following the public hearing and opinion collection process. According to the Paris Agreement signed in 2015, each country must submit LEDS and NDC to the UN by the end of 2020.

President Moon Jae-in officially announced the '2050 Carbon Neutrality Realization' on the 28th of last month. The LEDS and NDC to be submitted to the UN are expected to contain the government’s roadmap to achieve this, drawing significant attention.

According to the plan disclosed by the government, to realize carbon neutrality by 2050, the share of renewable energy generation will be expanded to 65-80% by 2050. At the same time, the share of coal-fired power generation will be reduced to 0%.

Considering that the share of new and renewable energy generation was only 5.2% last year, while coal-fired power generation accounted for 40.4%, this is a very aggressive target. It is also an upward revision compared to the 60% renewable energy share and 4.4% coal-fired power share proposed by the Low Carbon Society Vision Forum in March.

Along with this, the government also announced plans to link liquefied natural gas (LNG) power generation with carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology (CCUS) and to introduce the Northeast Asia Super Grid.

On this day, the government also presented a reduction target to cut annual greenhouse gas emissions from 709.14 million tons in 2017 to 536 million tons by 2030. Some voices suggest that this level of reduction may not be sufficient to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Meanwhile, 15 ministries including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Office for Government Policy Coordination have formed an intergovernmental consultative body since March to prepare the LEDS government report to be submitted to the UN.

The right side shows the concept and achievement plan (draft) of the 2050 Long-term Low Carbon Development Strategy (LEDS) carbon neutrality presented at the public hearing on November 19. The left side shows the content of Plan 1, the strongest among the five scenarios included in the proposal submitted to the government by the 'Low Carbon Society Vision Forum' on February 5. (Source: Ministry of Environment)

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