• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2021.06a
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• pp.148-149
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• 2021

Food waste has increasingly become a global issue of concern among the researchers and policymakers due to its significant environmental and economic impacts, and other associated unsustainable use of resources, including water resources. While food wastage occurs at each stage of the supply chain with food loss at the upstream and food waste at the downstream, the impacts of food waste occurring at the consumption side are enormous due to the accumulated added values. In this study, the embedded water resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic loss of household food waste were investigated. The primary granular data of household food waste was collected through direct sampling from 218 selected households of the Buk-gu community in Daegu, South Korea from July 2019 to May 2020. The water footprint, which was based on the water footprint concept, i.e., indirect water use, and GHG emission potential factor for each of the food items were adopted from the literature, while the retail prices and disposal cost were used to assess the economic cost of wasted food items. The water footprint, GHG emission associated with environmental impacts, and the economic cost of 42 major identified wasted food items were conducted. The findings showed that an average of 0.73 ± 0.06 kg/household/day edible food waste was generated among the sampled households, with leafy vegetable, watermelon, and rice responsible for 10, 9, and 4%, respectively, of the total weight of the 42 food wasted items. The water footprint and environmental impact of the household food waste resulted in 0.46 ± 0.04 m³ and 0.71±0.05 kg CO2eq, respectively. Beef, pork, poultry, and rice accounted for 52, 9, 5, and 4% of the total water footprint, while beef, pork, rice, tofu/cheese had 52, 8, 6, and 6% of the total emissions, respectively, embedded in the food wasted. Furthermore, the average estimated economic cost associated with wasted food items was 3855.93±527.27 Korean won, with beef, fish, and leafy vegetable responsible for 21, 13, and 10%, respectively, of the total economic cost. A combined assessment using water-environmental-economic nexus indicated that animal-based food had the highest footprint impacts, with beef, pork, and poultry indicating high indices of 0.3, 0.08, and 0.06 respectively, on a scale of 0 to 1, compared to corn and lettuce with lowest impacts of 0.02. Other food items had moderate impact values ranging from 0.03 to 0.05. This study, therefore, provides insight into the enormity of environmental and economic implications of household food waste among Korean households.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.374-380
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• 2014

To estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, the inventory of rice cultivation at the farming without agricultural chemicals was established from farmers in Gunsan, Jeonbuk province in 2011~2012. The objectives of this study were to calculate carbon footprint and analyse the major factor of GHGs. To do this, we carried out a sensitivity analysis using the analyzed main factors of GHGs and estimated the mitigation potential of GHGs. Also we suggested agricultural methods to reduce GHGs that can be appled by farmers at this region. At the farming system without agricultural chemicals, carbon footprint of rice production unit of 1 kg was 2.15 kg $CO_2.-eq.kg^{-1}$. Although the amount of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) emission was the largest among GHGs, methane ($CH_4$) emission had the highest contribution to carbon footprint on rice production system when it was converted to carbon dioxide equivalent ($CO_2-eq.$) multiplied by the global warming potential (GWP). Main source of $CO_2$ emission in the rice farming system without agricultural chemicals was combustion of fossil fuels used by agricultural machinery. Most of the $CH_4$ was emitted during rice cultivation practice and its major emission factor was flooded paddy field in anaerobic condition. Also, most of the $N_2O$ was emitted from rice cultivation process. Major sources of the $N_2O$ emission was application of fertilizer such as compound fertilizer. As a result of sensitivity analysis in energy consumption, diesel had the highest sensitivity among the energy inputs. With the reduction of diesel consumption by 10%, it was estimated that $CO_2$ potential reduction was about 2.0%. With reducing application rate of compound fertilizer by 10%, the potential reduction was calculated that $CO_2$ and $N_2O$ could be reduced by 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively. At the condition of 10% reduction of silicate and compost, $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ could be reduced by 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively. With 8 days more drainage than the ordinary practice, $CH_4$ emission could be reduced by about 4.5%. Drainage and diesel consumption were the main sources having the largest effect on the GHG reduction at the farming system without agricultural chemicals. Based on the above results, we suggest that no-tillage and midsummer drainage could be a method to decrease GHG emissions from rice production system.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

A lot of the energy are consumed on heating and cooling in buildings. The buildings need to minimize the heating and cooling loads for $CO_2$ emissions and energy consumption reduction. In recently, also demand of detached houses were increase while the residential culture was changed. The structure of the domestic detached houses can be divided into masonry, concrete, wood frame houses. Therefore, in this study, the heating and cooling load and energy demand were analyzed on the equal area detached house consisting of three structural methods (Masonry, Concrete, Wood frame). Layer of wall, roof, and floor were composited by structure. Thermal transmittance (U-value) of each layer was using the PHPP calculation for considering stud, such as the wood frame wall. In addition, the case of without considering for studs in wood frame wall (Non-studs) was analyzed in order to compare the difference between studs or not. Analysis was performed using self-developed heating and cooling load calculation program (CHLC) based excel and ECO2. The results of cooling and heating load and energy demand showed the highest values in the wood frame structure, and the concrete structure were confirmed to maintain a high value secondly. Two structure were determined to be disadvantageous on the energy consumption. Consequently, the masonry structure have an advantage over the other structure under the identical conditions. It was determined that if the except for thermal bridges due to the studs in the wood frame structure, it can be reduced the energy consumption.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.607-614
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• 2013

Nowadays, automotive manufacturers have developed various technologies to improve fuel economy and reduce harmful emissions. The ultra-lean direct injection engine is a promising technology because it has the advantage of improving thermal efficiency through the deliberate control of fuel and ignition. This study aims to investigate the development of a spray-guided-type lean-burn LPG direct injection engine through the redesign of the combustion system. This engine uses a central-injection-type cylinder head in which the injector is installed adjacent to the spark plug. Fuel consumption and combustion stability were estimated depending on the ignition timing and injection timing at various air-fuel ratios. The optimal injection timing and ignition timing were based on the best fuel consumption and combustion stability.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.909-930
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• 2022

Although the electricity tariff for each customer class in Korea has an institutional basis which can be linked to cost fluctuations caused by the increase in fuel cost, there is a situation in which it cannot be raised in a timely manner, considering the national economic burden such as inflation. There can be some disagreements about unconditionally raising electricity rates when cost increases occur. It is, however, well known that Korean domestic electricity rates are very low around the world and are in an environment in which rates are not easily adjusted. Moreover, as Korean electricity rates cannot be easily raised due to various factors, domestic electricity rates for each customer class itself have not delivered a desirable price signal for power consumption. Based on historical data such as fuel costs and power production by power source from 2017 to 2020, this study estimated how much power consumption would change if electricity rates were adjusted in 2030 and price signal distortion was resolved. As a result of the estimation, power consumption will be reduced by 9,000 GWh if the current electricity bill is adjusted to a level which can be 100% recovered even with the supply cost alone. This led to a reduction of about 3.82 million CO₂tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the Korean power sector.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.666-671
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• 2023

As international environmental regulations on ship emissions are gradually strengthened, interest in electric propulsion and hybrid propulsion ships is increasing, and various solutions are being developed and applied to these ships, especially stabilization of the power system and system efficiency. The direct current distribution system is being applied as a way to increase the power. In addition, verification and testing of safety and performance of marine DC distribution systems is required. As a result of establishing a DC distribution test bed, verifying the performance of the DC distribution (variable speed power generation) system, and analyzing fuel consumption, this study applied a variable speed power generation system that is applied to DC power distribution for ships, and converted the power output from the generator into a rectifier. A system was developed to convert direct current power to connect to the system and monitor and control these devices. Through tests using this DC distribution system, the maximum voltage was 751.5V and the minimum voltage was 731.4V, and the voltage fluctuation rate was 2.7%, confirming that the voltage is stably supplied within 3%, and a variable speed power generation system was installed according to load fluctuations. When applied, it was confirmed through testing that fuel consumption could be reduced by more than 20% depending on the section compared to the existing constant speed power generation system.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.358-383
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• 2015

The concept of 'carbon footprint' has been developed as a means of quantifying the specific emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause global warming. Although there are still neither clear definitions of the term nor rules for units or the scope of its estimation, it is broadly accepted that the carbon footprint is the total amount of GHGs, expressed as $CO_2$ equivalents, emitted into the atmosphere directly or indirectly at all processes of the production by an individual or organization. According to the ISO/TS 14067, the carbon footprint of a product is calculated by multiplying the units of activity of processes that emit GHGs by emission factor of the processes, and by summing them up. Based on this, 'carbon labelling' system has been implemented in various ways over the world to provide consumers the opportunities of comparison and choice, and to encourage voluntary activities of producers to reduce GHG emissions. In the agricultural sector, as a judgment basis to help purchaser with ethical consumption, 'low-carbon agricultural and livestock products certification' system is expected to have more utilization value. In this process, the 'cradle to gate' approach (which excludes stages for usage and disposal) is mainly used to set the boundaries of the life cycle assessment for agricultural products. The estimation of carbon footprint for the entire agricultural and forestry sector should take both removals and emissions into account in the "National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report". The carbon accumulation in the biomass of perennial trees in cropland should be considered also to reduce the total GHG emissions. In order to accomplish this, tower-based flux measurements can be used, which provide a direct quantification of $CO_2$ exchange during the entire life cycle. Carbon footprint information can be combined with other indicators to develop more holistic assessment indicators for sustainable agricultural and forestry ecosystems.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.470-478
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• 2016

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by fossil fuels consumption is one of the challenging issues worldwide. Renewable energy source (RES)-based energy supply system can be a promising alternative to the current fossil fuel-based system. In this study, we propose an optimization approach for designing a stand-alone hybrid energy supply system using RES and evaluating economic performances of the energy systems. The suggested approach is used to answer the questions; i) what technology is suitable to various demand sectors in different regions, and ii) how does it cost to meet the demand in term of the levelized costs of energy (LCOE). We illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach by applying to the design problem of energy supply systems for residential, agricultural and commercial sectors of Korea. As the results of LCOE analysis, for the residential sector has the LCOE ranging of $0.37~$0.44/kWh, the agricultural sector of $0.15~$0.61/kWh and the commercial sector of $0.12~$0.28/kWh.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.392-402
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• 2010

Black carbon (BC) concentrations were measured with an aethalometer (AE-16, 880 nm) at time interval of 5-min at an urban site of Gwangju over a year 2008. 24-hr filter-based integrated measurements of $PM_{2.5}$ particles were also made at the same site during the winter and summer intensive periods to test any optical loading bias in the raw BC data measured by aethalometer. BC concentration was higher in winter than in summer, possibly due to increase in emissions from energy consumption and poor dispersion with reduction of boundary layer in winter. Also temporal cycles of BC indicate that short-term transient spikes were common, occurring primarily during the rush-hour periods. A similar feature was also observed in diurnal concentration cycle of CO, mainly emitted from motor vehicles. When both low wind speed and weather patterns such as mist, haze and etc were combined, high BC concentrations frequently occurred. The amount of optical loading effect described by the "k" factor showed the seasonal variation, ranging from 0.0003 to 0.0036. This implies that optical loading effect is not seen at all times. From the comparison between the filter-based elemental carbon (EC) and aethalometer BC data, it was found that the loading compensated BC values were more reasonable than the raw BC ones reported from the aethalometer.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.89-102
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• 1998

The purpose of this study is to seek AEI(Air Environmental Indices), PSI(Pollutant Standard Index) and the urban air quality control goal(the best available alternative energy program) by assessing the best ratio of energy types used in urban enterprises, based on harmful health effect and air quality standard and costs. This study is focused on an urban area(Puchun), where area sourcees are associated with heavy traffic, large population, and its industrial sources with large emissions. In the first step, air modeling, estimation of AEI and PSI, and benefit-cost analysis were carried out. In the second step, we assessed that 660 scenarios about the ratio of B-C oil, light oil and LNG used in urban enterprises with regard to air quality and cost. In the third step, the best available alternative energy program was selected for the ratio of energy species(B-C oil, light oil and LNG) by using the lexicographic method. From the emission analysis, main source of $NO_2$ is identified as industries and air quality is evaluated according to the ratio of B-C oil, light oil and LNG used in urban enterprise. The modeling data of TSP, $SO_2$, $NO_2$, CO, $O_3$, by ISC3 and PBM are respectively $118{\mu}g/m^3$, 0.027ppm, 0.025ppm, 2.0ppm, 0.55ppm in indurstrial area. That data are close to Environmental Air Quality Standard. By means of sensitivity analysis, we obtained the difference in concentration between the areas(Nae-dong, Joong-dong) according to the ratio of B-C oil, light oil and LNG used in the industries. From the result of alternatives assessment the lowest AEI value and cost, the ratio of B-C oil, light oil and LNG are 2.5%, 20%, 77.5%, respectively.