Status and perspectives on bioenergy in Korea

The current status of and challenges associated with bioenergy production and utilization in Korea are reviewed in this paper. Bioenergy (particularly transport biofuels) has emerged as a promising option for mitigating Korea's CO2 emissions and enhancing its energy security. Korea's limited biomass resources and the high cost of biofuels are the major barriers to achieving 2030's implementation targets. Efforts to identify new suitable biomass resources for biofuels production are ongoing and intensive. Aquatic biomasses including algae and plantation wastes collected in the Southeast Asia region have been found to have great potential as feedstocks. R&D on technologies that can more efficiently convert biomass materials to biofuels also are underway. It is expected that cost-effective biofuels will be in adequate supply from 2020 and that, by 2030, their use will contribute effectively to the realization of sustainable growth in Korea.