The Republic of Korea’s (RoK) government has announced an injection of 174.4 billion won (or 130.3 million USD) for research and development in the energy sector, local media said on Apr. 6.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the support will be centred on technologies related to renewable energy, electric power, waste management and high-tech parts and systems production, according to Yonhap news agency.
Emphasis has been placed on implementing countermeasures to deal with climate change, dwindling energy resources, finding new sustainable growth engines and job creation, Yonhap quoted a ministry official as saying.
He said of the 250 individual projects to get support in the coming months, 34 are mid- to long-term projects that will receive 109.9 billion won, or 63 percent of money set aside for the year. The remainder will be given out to the rest 216 short-term projects.
Projects to get support include technology to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, to find small oil and gas wells and to recycle battery cell modules.
Carbon emission cuts are increasingly urgent to the RoK as it comes under mounting pressure to take part in global efforts to cut back on greenhouse gases. The country is the ninth-largest producer of CO2 in the world, according to Yonhap./.