Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs "Promoting the Use of Livestock Manure Solid Fuel in Industry"
The government has decided to use 4,000 tons of livestock manure (cow dung) solid fuel daily at power plants by 2030 to reduce greenhouse gases equivalent to 1.1 million cars annually, cutting 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.
On the 8th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Environment signed a "Memorandum of Understanding for the Activation of Livestock Manure Solid Fuel Utilization" at the Nonghyup Card headquarters located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, together with Korea Southern Power and Nonghyup Economic Holdings.
This agreement was established through a consensus among the participating organizations on the need to promote the use of livestock manure solid fuel to reduce fossil fuel consumption, cut greenhouse gas emissions, improve water quality in watershed areas, and prevent algal blooms.
Among livestock manure, cow dung is mainly composted, a process that emits greenhouse gases and, when accumulated near rivers, can be washed away by rain causing algal blooms. Converting cow dung into solid fuel can address these issues while enabling more environmentally friendly treatment of livestock manure.
To this end, the Ministry of Environment allowed a demonstration exception in March to expand the use of auxiliary materials for solid fuel. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs promoted the activation of solid fuel through test combustion at Southern Power in June. Based on this, the two ministries have secured demand from large industrial facilities, including the full-scale use of livestock manure solid fuel at Southern Power starting next year.
The signatory organizations plan to specify necessary measures and strengthen collaboration during the process of activating solid fuel utilization. They aim to increase production facilities targeting 4,000 tons of solid fuel use per day by 2030, improve solid fuel quality, and expand demand. In this case, it is expected to reduce 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, while also achieving water quality improvement and algal bloom prevention effects.
Park Beom-su, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "The use of solid fuel by Southern Power is the first case of solid fuel use in large industrial facilities and will serve as a signal to the industry for the full-scale utilization of solid fuel." He added, "We will work with the signatory organizations to improve solid fuel quality and ensure that solid fuel can be stably used in the industry."
Lee Byung-hwa, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment, stated, "Through this agreement, we have established a groundbreaking method to produce fuel that can replace coal and other fuels using cow dung, a major cause of algal blooms, while also reducing water pollution." He added, "We will continue to collaborate not only between ministries but also with various stakeholders to properly manage livestock manure."
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