Seriousness of Global Warming

In 2021, countries around the world are experiencing dangerous abnormal climate events. In Western North America, including parts of the United States and Canada, extreme heat waves continued from June to mid-July. During this period, the highest temperature measured in Canada was an unprecedented 49.6°C. Also in July, massive floods in Western Europe, including Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands, caused significant damage. In some areas of Germany, two months of rain fell in two days, leading to rivers flooding nearby villages and leaving hundreds of people injured, missing, or dead. There was also record heavy rain in China in July. In particular, 73 people were killed in floods in Henan, an inland region in China, and 146 people were killed or missing in other regions. The Arctic also suffered from a heat wave. As temperatures rose sharply in the Arctic, 8.5 billion tons of ice melted in one day in Greenland on July 27. Glacier losses have continued since the mid-1990s, raising global sea levels by 1.5mm in 2019.

All these natural phenomena can be seen as signs of global warming. Scientists warned that these extreme events will occur more often if climate change does not stop accelerating. Many experts have argued that people should be alert to the seriousness of climate change and act for the preservation of the Earth.

 

How Korea Combats Global Warming

Korea also could not evade global warming. Heat waves, increased annual precipitation, and frequent typhoons are effects of global warming seen in Korea. As natural disasters and their casualties increase in number every year due to global warming, the Korean government and local governments have moved to help stop global warming. Korean president Moon Jae-in has put forth the idea that Korea needs to cut coal consumption to 0 by 2045 in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Also, the Korean government is pushing to close old coal-fired power plants, which are the main sources of fine dust and greenhouse gases. In particular, the closure of the coal power plant in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, has been moved up from 2022 to 2020. Last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would ban registration of internal combustion locomotives in 2035. In addition, to reduce carbon emissions, a total of 14 local governments, including Seoul, Daejeon, and Changwon, have installed public bikes to encourage many people to bike rather than drive short distances. According to the Korea Climate and Environment Network, a single person traveling just 2 kilometers by bicycle instead of by car once a week can save 11.7 liters of fuel and reduce about 25.1 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year.

In their everyday lives, many Koreans have found and practiced what individuals can do as inhabitants of the Earth for the environment. They avoid driving cars alone and instead use public transportation as much as possible. Also, they bike or walk rather than drive cars. In addition to reducing carbon emissions, many Koreans also pay attention to waste disposal. As the number of hours spent at home increased due to coronavirus, people have used the food delivery system a lot, resulting in huge amounts of disposable waste to deal with. Rather than putting food in disposable plastic containers, people go to restaurants and pack food in multi-use containers. Koreans also try to reduce the amount of waste by recycling. In fact, data from the environmental consultancy firm Eunomia Research and Consulting and the European Environmental Bureau showed that Korea ranked third among the world's top recycling countries in 2018.

There was also an upcycling boom in Korea. Upcycling refers to changing discarded products into a new product with more value than the original products. By doing so, discarded waste can be reused again. According to the Plastic Waste Makers Index issued by the Minderoo Foundation, Korea has the third-largest plastic waste emission per person globally, and in 2019, it produced 44 kilograms of disposable plastic waste per person. ‘No Plastic Sunday’ is an organization in Korea that collects plastic waste, especially small plastics like the lid of a plastic bottle that are difficult to recycle, and shreds it and molds it into a new object. As the coronavirus pandemic increased the use of disposable masks, dealing with huge amounts of mask waste was a problem. Haneul Kim, a designer at Kaywon University of Art and Design who was working on furniture, had the idea to make furniture from recycling masks in order to reuse the masks. He focused on the fact that the main material of disposable masks is polypropylene (PP). PP is a type of plastic that melts when heated and turns back into a solid when the temperature is lowered, making it recyclable. He used this characteristic of PP to heat a lot of disposable masks, melt them, and harden them into a hard plastic chair.

 

▲ SeoulTech President Lee participating in the GoGo Challenge

 

What Universities Do for the Environment: Green Campus Project

Many universities in Korea have also made an effort for the environment. According to the Korean Ministry of Environment (KMOB), universities are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases. Thus, KMOE and the Korea Environment Corporation implemented the Green Campus Project in 2011 with the aim of reducing greenhouse gases generated by universities and fostering outstanding eco-friendly students who can lead sustainable growth. Universities designated as a Green Campus receive financial and technical support for activities, such as improving facilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, developing eco-friendly education courses, and holding eco-friendly contests. In addition, KMOE provides financial and technical support for environmental clubs, which last year supported 32 environmental clubs from various universities.

For a sustainable society, a university designated as a Green Campus shall promote projects for the operation and exchange, cooperation, education, and research related to sustainable-related endeavors. Since 2011 when the Green Campus Project began, 45 universities in Korea have been given the designation of Green Campus. As of 2021, five universities, including Seoul National University, Shinhan University, Incheon University, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, and Chungbuk Health and Science University, are conducting green campus projects. Although SeoulTech has not been designated as a Green Campus this year, SeoulTech has taken steps to build a Green Campus, such as creating an eco-friendly campus and signing an agreement with a related corporation.

 

SeoulTech's Efforts to be Environmentally-Friendly

Last year, SeoulTech signed a business agreement with the Korea District Heating Corporation (KDHC) to convert the university to a Green Campus. For the transition, KDHC will establish and demonstrate a green energy supply model that applies waste emulsification production (W2H) technology to extract hydrogen with clean oil that thermally decomposes waste vinyl and plastic, and SeoulTech will provide infrastructure, such as human and physical resources. This W2H (waste to hydrogen) technology is an environmentallyfriendly way to convert waste into clean energy. Hydrogen produced through this process is expected to be used in hydrogen charging stations for hydrogen-fueled cars and for fuel cells. Through this agreement, SeoulTech is expected to play a central role in the future green business in the W2H field and achieve sustainable development.

SeoulTech President Donghoon Lee joined the 'GoGo Challenge’ in March this year. The GoGo Challenge is a campaign started by Korea's Ministry of Environment to protect the environment by minimizing the use of plastic in life using social networks. Netizens pledge to practice environmental protection through their social networks, and they point to the next participant to continue the challenge. He took a photo with a sign that read ‘Reduce the use of disposable products! Separate the transparent plastic bottles! #Deplastic #GoGoChallenge #ReducePlastic,’ and the photo was posted on the Instagram page of SeoulTech. Also, President Lee said, "I want our university students to practice reducing the use of disposable items in daily life and separating transparent PET bottles." He participated in the challenge under the nomination of Seungrok Oh, head of Nowon District, and pointed out Jungsoo Kim, superintendent of Korea Military Academy, and Changhwa Hwang, CEO of KDHC as the next participants.

The Creative Convergence Research Center (also known as Sangsang Hall), the most recently constructed building on SeoulTech, is an eco-friendly building that has obtained ‘Green Building Certification’ by the Korea Institute of Sustainable Design and Educational Environment (KISEE). According to KISEE, the Green Building Certification is a system that evaluates factors affecting the environment, such as saving energy and resources, reducing emissions of pollutants, and creating a pleasant living environment in the process of producing, designing, constructing, maintaining, and disposing of materials. They recognize ratings based on these results, and Sangsang Hall has been certified as the best Green Grade. There is a certification plaque next to the elevator on the first floor of Sangsang Hall.

SeoulTech has started operating an autonomous shuttle vehicle, SpringCar, on campus since May. SeoulTech is the second to use SpringCar on its campus after Korea National University of Transportation. SpringCar is eco-friendly in that it is an electric vehicle with a self-driving capability of level 4 that is powered by batteries. SpringCar with level 4, which is a conditional automation degree, can drive on its own without driver intervention under specified conditions. It travels through SeoulTech five times each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Anyone can use it for free, and up to 12 people can ride it.

▲ Green Building Certification plaque attached next to the elevator on the first floor of Sangsang Hall

 

In various ways, the national and local Korean governments, individuals throughout the country, and universities, including SeoulTech, are paying much attention to and trying to make a better environment. However, these efforts are still only a part of the whole. Many people are not choosing these eco-friendly ways because these are more costly, time consuming, and inconvenient than the original, less ecofriendly ways. We will continue this topic in our next issue by focusing on the problems with waste disposal and the status of neglected waste.



 

Reporters,

Jaeyoung Kim jaeyoung@seoultech.ac.kr

Gayeon Han hgy1228@seoultech.ac.kr

Reporter 김재영

• 직책 :
• e-mail : jaeyoung@seoultech.ac.kr

한가연 기자

• 직책 :
• e-mail : hgy1228@seoultech.ac.kr