Air Pollution
Korea's air quality visibly deteriorated in the 1960-80s due to rapid industrialization
and economic growth. Especially with high population density and high energy
use per dollar of GDP, the volume of air pollution emissions per unit area is
relatively greater compared to that of other industrialized countries. The rapid
increase in the number of automobiles, from 280,000 in 1980 to 14 million in
2003, also account for a huge portion of air pollution. Automobile exhausts
took up 80 percent of the total CO emissions, 45 percent of NO2 and 33 percent
of PM10 emissions in 2001.
Blue Sky 21
In order to bring up Korea's air quality to the level of advanced countries
by 2012, the government initiated the Blue Sky 21 Project (2003-2012) to curtail
the emission of major pollutants by 40-70 percent of the 2000 figure. Blue Sky
21 introduces total pollution load management, away from the existing end-of-pipe,
concentration-control policies. To help mitigate the burden imposed on industries,
emissions trading system will be launched in which industries that generate
pollutants below the allowable level can sell their emission permits to those
that have not.
In addition, Blue Sky 21 contains comprehensive measures to abate air pollution
from automobiles. For manufactured vehicles, emission standards will be strengthened
while the supply of zero to low-emission vehicles expanded. For transportation
vehicles, inspection criterion will center on the assessment of environmental
load. For commercial freight trucks, emissions treatment devices will be instated,
whereas for old vehicles with heavy emissions, the government will provide subsidies
to induce their early scrap. The government also plans to replace 3000 diesel
buses with natural gas buses in the major cities by the end of 2002 and up to
20,000 by 2007. To facilitate this project, refueling stations will be constructed
throughout the country. |