[월간수소경제 박상우 기자] The government selected 100 representative carbon-neutral technologies of the future for commercialization around 2030, and began full-scale ‘Korean-style carbon-neutral technology research and development’.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Ministry of Science and ICT’) held the 7th meeting of the ‘Special Committee on Carbon Neutral Technology’ under the National Science and Technology Advisory Council in the conference room of the Seoul Digital Platform Committee of the Government on the 19th.
The Carbon Neutral Technology Special Committee is one of the special committees under the National Science and Technology Advisory Council, which is under the direct control of the President.
As a follow-up measure to the ‘Basic Plan for Carbon Neutral Green Growth’ published in April following the ‘Carbon Neutral Green Growth Technology Innovation Strategy’ established in October last year, the committee published the technology development policy direction on full scale in the carbon neutral field.
In this meeting, △Select 100 Korean-style carbon-neutral core technologies (plan) △Carbon technology innovation strategy road map – the petrochemical / steel / cement sector (plan) △Strategy of fostering digital carbon footprint inspection (monitoring) technology ( plan) △Plan A total of four agendas were proposed, including the 3rd comprehensive carbon sink promotion plan (draft).
‘Korea’s 100 Core Technologies for Carbon Neutrality’ is to present the direction of carbon neutrality technology development at a cross-governmental level, considering the level of technology, etc., technologies that are absolutely necessary for the realization of carbon neutrality in Korea. are chosen.
In order to select the 100 technologies, a ‘100 Carbon Neutral Technology Selection Working Group (a total of 233 experts from industry, academia and research)’ was implemented which includes the best experts in each field. ‘100 core technologies’ were selected for 17 key areas relating to industry, transport/transport, and construction/environmental sectors.
The main feature of the ‘100 Core Technologies’ is that the classification system has been more rationalized when considering connectivity and differentiation between technologies in the ‘Carbon Neutral Green Growth Technology Innovation Strategy’ published by the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee in October last year.
In addition, various investment portfolios are prepared, such as by technology level such as Super Gap, New Gap, and Impressive Gap, short term (commercialization goal by 2030), medium to long term (commercialization goal after 2030), etc. It is meaningful as it has planned strategic investment direction in technology development.
Looking at each sector, firstly, in the energy conversion sector, 35 technologies were selected in 8 areas related to high efficiency and large scale when considering geographical conditions and the acceptance of residents.
The sector included hydrogen. The technologies included in the hydrogen field are △gaseous hydrogen storage/transport △hydrogen/ammonia storage/transport abroad △next generation water electrolysis △liquid hydrogen carrier △alkaline water electrolysis and PEM water electrolysis △liquid hydrogen storage/transport △hydrogen pipeline network only △ next generation There are a total of 10 facilities, including hydrogen storage and transport abroad and liquid hydrogen receiving bases.
In addition, in the case of carbon-free power supply, △ high-efficiency fuel cell co-generation △ hydrogen-fired gas turbine △ hydrogen gas turbine △ co-fired ammonia coal-fired boiler △ high-efficiency fuel cell combined cycle power generation were included.
In the industrial sector, which is mainly concerned with processes, the focus was on decarbonisation while maintaining the competitiveness of key industries. Since most existing processes, such as steel and petrochemicals, require large-scale innovation, new gap technologies were selected by level and medium to long-term technologies by phase.
The sector included the CCUS sector. The technologies included in the field of CCUS include △separation membrane capture △chemical conversion △mineral carbonation △wet/dry/next generation capture △storage exploration, evaluation, and selection △storage facility/equipment design/construction △storage CO2 injection / operation △CO2 storage monitoring △biological It is a transformation.
The transport and transport sector is an area where Korea has achieved competitiveness, and 13 technologies were selected in two areas, eco-friendly vehicles and carbon-neutral ships, with an emphasis on rapid conversion to high-performance eco-friendly products by ensuring core technologies.
Among the eco-friendly vehicles, hydrogen-related technologies include △ fuel cell system promotion, △ hydrogen storage system for hydrogen vehicles, △ hydrogen charging station, and in the case of carbon-neutral ships, △ fuel cell system / ship battery, and △ ship electric propulsion system.
In the construction/environment sector, 8 technologies were chosen in 2 areas considering our type of housing, urban environment suitability, and efficient use of land.
The government intends to strengthen strategic research and development investment that focuses on the 100 carbon-neutral technologies chosen this time. First of all, in order to expand investment in carbon-neutral research and development that focuses on the 100 core technologies, and to prioritize investment in projects related to the 100 core technologies at a national level, the allocation will budgetary and the adjustment is promoted through an integrated cross-departmental system. plan.
In addition, through organizational improvements such as shortening the period of the preliminary feasibility study, we support rapid and flexible carbon neutral research and development, and establish a step-by-step action plan (roadmap) for carbon-neutral technological innovation that focuses on a mission that focuses on 100. We intend to systematically strengthen our technological base.
‘Korea’s Top 100 Carbon Neutral Core Technologies’ will be reviewed from time to time to flexibly respond to technological changes at home and abroad, and if necessary, plan to promote redesign, such as adding new fields and technologies, and ad – organize the scope and aims of the existing ones. fields.
Along with this, the committee presented the ‘Carbon Neutral Technology Innovation Strategy Roadmap’.
A carbon-neutral technology innovation strategy roadmap is a mission-oriented script that sets specific goals and deadlines given that carbon-neutral technology is a mission-oriented technology that aims to be applied to the actual field, and move on to subsequent development if the development of the previous stage is successful It was designed in a method (scenario), and the government intends to use the step-by-step action plan (roadmap) as a basic blueprint for government research and development investment in the carbon neutral field.
This step-by-step action plan (roadmap) was carried out as a private initiative, with representative associations and companies by industry directly involved in the road-mapping work to increase the industry’s voluntary participation in carbon neutrality.
First, petrochemical is an industrial field that produces various chemical products such as plastic, fiber, rubber, and adhesives. It is a representative leading industry in which Korea has the fourth largest ethylene production capacity in the world, while it is second among Korean industries. in carbon emissions (46.9 million tonnes from 2018), drastic process innovation is required to reduce carbon emissions.
Accordingly, the government is establishing a technology development strategy with the aim of establishing eco-friendly process innovation technology as a commercial technology around 2030 across the entire petrochemical cycle (△ fuel replacement △ raw material replacement △ resource circulation △ process new) did.
Among them, in the field of fuel substitution, the technology for converting existing high-carbon fuels into electric or carbon-free fuel (hydrogen ignition, hydrogen, etc.) will be gradually expanded to increase the output of electric heating furnaces. to more than those of the current petroleum-based process (by 2030) The standard ethylene production yield is over 30%), and carbon-free fuel is also being developed with the aim of applying it in truth to the current process (2nd NCC as from 2030) and its expansion.
The steel industry emits the most carbon (101.2 million tonnes from 2018) among the industrial sectors, and as the European Union plans to introduce a carbon border adjustment system that places additional taxes on high carbon imports such as steel , the steel industry In order to ensure the competitiveness of the industry on an ongoing basis, there is an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions.
Accordingly, a strategy was established with the aim of securing commercial technology that can reduce carbon emissions in the current steel production process around 2030 and developing innovative steel production technology that does not emit carbon in the long term.
First, develop and apply technology to replace lead and raw materials such as coke and iron ore used in the blast furnace converter process with low-carbon fuels and raw materials such as hydrogen-containing gas and alternative iron sources. electric furnace process, energy efficiency and low carbon fuel We intend to secure and disseminate alternative technologies.
In order to convert the existing blast furnace converter, which emits a large amount of carbon in the long term, into hydrogen reduction steelmaking, an innovative process that does not emit carbon using hydrogen and renewable energy, we are trying to develop a core. technologies such as process and facility design.
In addition, we develop and apply technology to convert coal fuel used in the downstream process of producing final steel products into hydrogen and ammonia, and secure promising technologies for recycling by-products produced in the steel production process such as steel and low raw materials. -carbon building materials.plan to make
Korea’s cement industry emits the most carbon (34.1 million tonnes from 2018), following steel and petrochemicals, but the level of technology to reduce carbon emissions lags behind large countries such as the European Union, which n actively use recycled fuel in a situation in need of development.
Accordingly, a technology development strategy was established with the aim of rapidly securing the core technologies required to convert fuels and raw materials used in cement production into low carbon fuels and raw materials to a level that can be commercialized around 2030 .
Among them, key technologies for the use of recycled fuels such as pretreatment and control of pollutants are secured and demonstrated so that fuels such as bituminous coal can be replaced with recycled fuels (waste synthetic resin, and etc.) and non-carbon fuels (biomass, hydrogen, etc.) ‧We intend to develop technologies such as uniform heat source supply necessary for hydrogen combustion.
