This article explores how the development and use of alternative energy can play an important role in addressing resource depletion and emphasizes the need for a sustainable future.
South Korea is ranked as the 129th water-scarce country out of 153 countries in the world, with 1,453 cubic meters of water available per capita, which is the amount of annual precipitation that falls on the country’s land area, excluding losses such as evapotranspiration, divided by the number of people. Despite constant reminders from Korean government agencies and the Korean media about the need to conserve water, Koreans still don’t turn off their bathroom faucets. They leave the water running, wash dishes, and take long showers. This seems to indicate that Koreans don’t seriously realize that water is scarce and getting scarcer.
Water scarcity is a serious problem not only in Korea but all over the world. According to the United Nations, about 40% of the world’s population is currently experiencing water scarcity, and this number is increasing. Water scarcity is not only a matter of quantity, but also of the increasing amount of unusable water due to pollution. Solving these problems requires not only individual efforts, but also organized government management and international cooperation.
Water is not the only resource facing depletion. Fossil fuels are also rapidly depleting around the world. Even in Korea, where resources are scarce, the 10-point rule for cars introduced to reduce oil consumption is rarely followed, and electricity, which is stored by the use of many resources, is becoming scarce due to excessive domestic electricity consumption. While resource scarcity is causing many problems around the world, we are accelerating the process of resource depletion by using more resources without realizing that they are running out. Therefore, there is an urgent need for alternative energy sources to prepare for future energy shortages.
What kind of alternative energy sources are there? In Korea, the “Alternative Energy Development, Utilization, and Supply Promotion Act” defines “alternative energy” as energy other than oil, coal, nuclear power, and natural gas, including solar energy, bioenergy, wind power, hydroelectric power, fuel cells, energy derived from the liquefaction and gasification of coal and the gasification of heavy residue oil (the residue left after refining crude oil), marine energy, waste energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy, and other energy prescribed by presidential decree (liquid fuel mixed with substances such as coal). This concept of alternative energy is similar in other countries.
Many of these alternatives are highly dependent on local environmental conditions. For example, tidal power can be very efficient and produce a lot of electricity in oceans with large tidal differences. Tidal power plants such as the Incheon Bay Tidal Power Plant (planned) on the west coast of Korea and the Reims Tidal Power Plant in France can generate a large amount of energy, but it is difficult to install such power generation facilities in seas without tidal differences. In addition, most of the power generation facilities using alternative energy have very low energy efficiency, high construction costs, and low technology development level, so they do not yet account for a large share of Korea’s electricity consumption.
To increase the efficiency of alternative energy, technology development is essential. Much research has been conducted in recent years, and solar and wind power generation technologies in particular have advanced significantly. For example, in the case of solar power, research is underway to use a new material called perovskite instead of traditional silicon-based solar panels to significantly increase efficiency. This material is inexpensive and easy to manufacture, and is expected to be a game-changer once it is commercialized. In wind power, research is also underway to develop smaller turbines that can be used in urban centers and smaller areas.
While there are still many limitations, alternative energies are emerging as a way to reduce the share of fossil fuels in electricity generation and address the issue of resource depletion. For example, the Reims tidal power plant in France was the world’s first tidal power plant and is still in operation today, generating 500 million kWh of electricity annually for the Reims region. In Korea, alternative energy is also being used in everyday life to replace fossil fuels. Wind power plants have been installed on the windy islands of Jeju and Daegwallyeong to generate electricity, and technologies have been developed to use solar energy to power everything from homes to satellites. Bioenergy is the use of fats and sugars from plants as fuel, and a refinery has announced plans to commercialize bio-butanol, made from sugars from sugar cane, waste wood, rice straw and algae, to replace gasoline this year.
The importance of alternative energy can also be emphasized from an environmental perspective. The use of fossil fuels increases greenhouse gas emissions, which accelerate global warming, melting polar ice caps, causing sea level rise and contributing to climate change. Increasing the use of alternative energy will go a long way toward mitigating these environmental problems. Solar, wind, and hydroelectric power emit virtually no greenhouse gases during operation, making them an important choice for a green and sustainable future.
The energy of the future for our next generation must be “clean, affordable, and secure in supply and demand”. While the world is eager to develop and commercialize these energies, there is still a long way to go and investment is still lacking. Therefore, government investment is needed to fund the development of the technology, as well as voluntary participation by companies to develop the technology. At the same time, the general public will also need to participate in energy conservation and efficient use to help solve the problem of resource depletion. We must all work together for a sustainable future.
