Isra-Mart srl:South Korea promises carbon capture by 2020

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South Korea, Asia's fourth-biggest polluter, has announced plans to begin the commercial operation of two carbon capture and storage (CCS) plants by 2020.

The nation's Ministry of Knowledge Economy told news agency Bloomberg that it will begin development of two 100MW carbon capture demonstration projects in 2014.

Like China, South Korea has fuelled rapid economic growth on the back of coal imports, but now wants to maintain that growth while greening its power supply.

Last year, Seoul pledged to cut carbon emissions by 30 per cent from levels predicted for 2020, becoming the first emerging economy to set an official reduction target.

In June the government set up the Global Green Growth Institute, a think-tank tasked with promoting economic growth alongside the mitigation of greenhouse gases and last month it announced a $36bn (£22.6m) investment drive in green technologies over the next five years, including a 2.5GW offshore wind farm in the Yellow Sea.

However, the announcement from the ministry represents the first time the government has signalled its intention to develop CCS technology as well as conventional renewables.

Over the past three decades, South Korea has seen an average 8.6 per cent annual growth in GDP, with a corresponding growth in electricity consumption from 33 billion kWh in 1980 to 371 billion kWh in 2006, and is currently the second-largest importer of coal worldwide after Japan.

The government provided few details about the nature of the planned plants, although the economic case for deploying CCS is likely to be supported by a carbon pricing mechanism after the government earlier this month unveiled preliminary legislation that paves the way for a nationwide carbon trading scheme from 2013.

The proposal still needs parliamentary approval and public hearing sessions, but is expected to form the centrepiece of the government's low-carbon strategy.