Abstract
The South Korean government announced its goals of reducing the country’s CO2 emissions by up to 30% below the business as usual (BAU) projections by 2020 in 2009 and 37% below BAU projections by 2030 in 2015. This paper explores the potential energy savings and reduction in CO2 emissions offered by residential building energy efficiency policies and plans in South Korea. The current and future energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the residential building were estimated using an energy–environment model from 2010 to 2030. The business as usual scenario is based on the energy consumption characteristic of residential buildings using the trends related to socio-economic prospects and the number of dwellings. The alternative scenarios took into account energy efficiency for new residential buildings (scenario I), refurbishment of existing residential buildings (scenario II), use of highly efficient boilers (scenario III), and use of a solar thermal energy system (scenario IV). The results show that energy consumption in the residential building sector will increase by 33% between 2007 and 2030 in the BAU scenario. Maximum reduction in CO2 emissions in the residential building sector of South Korea was observed by 2030 in scenario I. In each alternative scenario analysis, CO2 emissions were 12.9% lower than in the business as usual scenario by the year 2030.
Highlights
Since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have developed strategies, policies, and measures to mitigate climate change and to reduce their respective greenhouse gas emissions, both within and outside the Kyoto Protocol agreement
A major goal of improved building technologies and building energy policies is the reduction of CO2 emissions, which is the primary goal of energy efficiency and carbon policies
The results obtained from the business as usual (BAU) scenario in estimating energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the residential building sector were based on the energy consumption characteristics of the current residential building sector and socio-economic development potential
Summary
Since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have developed strategies, policies, and measures to mitigate climate change and to reduce their respective greenhouse gas emissions, both within and outside the Kyoto Protocol agreement. South Korea has concentrated its support on achieving energy efficiency in new and existing buildings, and has been continuously strengthening its energy policies for buildings. These efforts can help reduce CO2 emissions and the fossil fuel consumed for energy in the South Korean building sector. The assessment of alternative scenarios for CO2 reduction potential is a very important topic for fundamental study in South Korea in order to achieve the goal of CO2 mitigation in the post-2020 climate regime and pursue sustainable development. We assess the potential for CO2 emission mitigation offered by the implementation of residential building energy efficiency policies in South Korea
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