• Korea Trade Review
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.111-130
• /
• 2018

In December 2015, the Paris Agreement was adopted to cope with global warming caused by greenhouse gas emission and to prevent the average temperature of the Earth from rising. Renewable energy sources have become important to address environmental problems such as rising sea levels, depletion of forests and fine dust. In order to grow renewable energy, government support is needed. However, excessive government support for the renewable energy industry could pose problems that include undermining fair competition and raising costs. The WTO already has heard cases involving renewable energy subsidies. This article focuses on subsidies and countervailing tariffs as well as examines WTO disputes related to renewable subsidies, and also analyze legal issues that are problematic in granting subsidies for the development of new renewable energy industries. In WTO dispute involving renewable energy subsidies, legal issues are SCM Agreement article 2 Specificity, article 3 (b) import substitution subsidy and GATT article 20. This paper proposes improvement measures such as the reintroduction of article 8 Non-Actionable Subsidies or special provisions on energy subsidy. In addition, it is necessary to clarify the interpretation of Article 3 of the subsidy agreement. However, excessive government subsidies can lead to trade friction, so the WTO rules should be improved in line with the WTO goals of environmental protection, equity in free trade, and sustainable development.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.725-743
• /
• 2018

Industrial groups (representing the polluters) and environmental non-governmental organizations (representing the victims) respond differently to various environmental policy instruments. As the affected group's power is large either politically or economically, it is unlikely that a single instrument will be actually selected despite being effective or efficient because of the high political costs associated with it. In this paper, we focus on the political role that energy subsidies play in creating a compromise between energy consuming polluters and victims of pollution. The use of a Dolbear (1967)'s triangle Edgeworth box model makes it possible to examine how policy selection affects the income distribution and welfare levels of two groups. The effects of a single policy instrument of either direct regulation or tax are compared with those of a policy mix that includes energy subsidies. We found that the addition of energy subsidies would increase the chance of compromise between polluters and victims.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.827-858
• /
• 2011

In Korea, various environmentally harmful subsidies are granted in agriculture, fishery, energy, electricity, transportation, steel and shipbuilding industry. Examples include tax-exempt fuel for agriculture & fishery, VAT- exemption for briquette & anthracite, temporary subsidy for fuel, production stabilizing subsidy for coal mining, subsidy for briquette. Korea's yearly total subsidy in energy area is about 5,291 billion won, among them is 4,870 billion won. To reduce air pollutants and to mitigate climate change, Korea has to review the phase-out of environmentally harmful subsidies and the phase-in of environment-friendly subsidy. The reduction or removal of environmentally harmful subsidies will enhance economic efficiency and bring about environmental benefits. Economic efficiency means less use of inputs, which reduces environmental cost and improves social benefits. This paper applies the Shoven and Whalley's model to the Korean economy and analyzes the general equilibrium incidence effects of reforming environmentally harmful subsidies in the energy and electricity in Korea. We consider several counterfactual scenarios in which current environmentally harmful subsidies are reduced or abolished, compare them with the reference case in the economy, and evaluated the change in efficiency costs and distributional incidence of tax reforms related to subsidies.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.57-81
• /
• 2010

Since the Republic of Korea is highly dependent on fossil fuels despite high oil prices, it urgently needs to renew its economic and social system to cut carbon emissions and achieve green growth. Therefore, reforming or eliminating subsidies related to the use of fossil fuels is a timely and oppropriate policy recommendation for Korea. It would be a win-win deal for Korean society as it would not only reduce the use of environmentally harmful fossil fuels but also enhance economic efficiency. In particular, cross-subsidies for industrial, agricultural and night thermal-storage power services make up more than 80 percent of all subsidies provided to the entire electric power industry sector of Korea. Of these cross-subsidies, this paper analyzes the electricity subsidy for industries, which takes up the largest share (about KRW 1.6583 trillion yearly), among the environmentally harmful subsidies in the electric power sector. Thus, the paper focuses on the analysis of ripple effect anticipated when this is reformed. To examine the effects of this subsidy reform, price elasticities were estimated using the ARDL (autoregressive distributed lag) model and quarterly data from 1990 to 2007. The main results of this study show that 1) annual energy demand for electric power in the industrial sector would drop by 12,475,930MWh and 2) $CO_2$ emissions would plummet by 2,644,897 tons per year if the subsidy were reformed. We can deduct from this that the abolition of environmentally harmful subsidies in the electric power sector in the Republic of Korea would considerably contribute to $CO_2$ emissions abatement in the country.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.102-110
• /
• 1992

The determination of production level of the domestic anthracite coal is an important issue in the national energy strategy. It is also closely related to the energy mix scenarios in the future. The objective of the paper is to discuss and analyze the options of expanding anthracite coal demand in the utility sector. The observed options are including; (1) New pulverized system of the 200 and 500 MW level, (2) Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion (AFBC), and (3) Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion (PFBC). Special emphasis is placed on the considerations in estimating the effects on the electric system costs and government subsidies when the options are introduced in the utility sector.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.317-331
• /
• 2015

A major barrier to the spread and vitalization of renewable energy lies in its economic infeasibility. And yet, there is a disparity in estimating the economic feasibility between supply and demand sides. Taking this into account, we calculate an appropriate level of mini-solar panel subsidies provided by the Seoul metropolitan government. More pointedly, this research investigates the receptivity and social equity of the subsidy program based on the analysis of the program's financial feasibility. The results show that the subsidies can have anticipated effects for the heavy electricity consumption group but not for the low electricity consumption group. Specifically, estimated pay-back periods for groups of 401kWh ~ 500kWh (per month) users, 201 kWh ~ 400kWh users and 101kWh ~ 200kWh were approximately 5years, 8 ~ 9 years and 12 years, respectively. This implies that differential scales of the subsidies can better contribute to reducing regressive difference between the groups and meeting the goal of social equity in regards to energy justice.

• New & Renewable Energy
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.52-60
• /
• 2024

This study conducted an economic analysis of renewable heat energy by estimating the levelized cost of heat production (LCOH) of ST and GSHP and comparing it with the cost of alternative fuels. The LCOH of ST ranged from 396.8 KRW/kWh to 578.7 KRW/kWh (small-scale), 270.3 KRW/kWh to 393.3 KRW/kWh (large-scale), and 156.3 KRW/kWh to 220.7 KRW/kWh for GSHP. The economic feasibility of ST and GSHP was analyzed by comparing the calculated LCOH and the fuel costs such as gas and kerosene prices. Moreover, scenario analyses were conducted for installation subsidies under the current system to examine the changes in the economics of renewable thermal energy.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.110 no.3
• /
• pp.453-461
• /
• 2021

The energy use of forest biomass is crucial to deal with climate change and achieve the carbon-neutral goal. This study aims to analyze the economic feasibility of forest biomass thermal energy facilities and calculate the optimal subsidy level of heat supply to ensure continued operation of the facilities. To achieve this aim, the net present value approach (NPV) and call option price model are adopted considering wood chip price volatilities. The Forest Energy Self-Sufficient Village Project financed by Korea Forest Service is considered as the research case study. In our analysis, when 50% of the initial investment is given to the subsidies and RECs are applied to only power generation, NPV and IRR are both negative and the investment value using the real option model is also zero. We concluded that some heat subsidies should be acknowledged to keep the facilities operating. Besides, the simulation results reveal reliable economic values when the heating subsidy is priced at KRW 0.0248 per kcal.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.67-99
• /
• 2019

This paper, focusing on the renewable portfolio standard (RPS), evaluates alternative renewable energy policies. We propose a tractable equilibrium model which provides a structural representation of Korea's electricity market, including its energy settlement system and renewable energy certificate (REC) transactions. Arbitrage conditions are used to define the core value of REC prices to identify relevant competitive equilibrium conditions. The model considers R&D investments and learning effects that may affect the development of renewable energy technologies. The model is parameterized to represent the baseline scenario under the currently scheduled RPS reinforcement for a 20% share of renewable generation, and then simulated for alternative scenarios. The result shows that the reinforcement of the RPS leads to higher welfare compared to weakening it as well as repealing it, though there remains room to enhance welfare. It turns out that subsidies are welfare-inferior to the RPS due to financial burdens and that reducing nuclear power generation from the baseline yields lower welfare by worsening environmental externalities.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.859-882
• /
• 2011

Since two oil crises in the 1970s, Korea has actively engaged in overseas E&P projects to increase energy diversity as well as its self-development rate of energy resources. Korea's energy self-development rate, an index that indicates the ratio of resources acquired through overseas development compared to direct imports. Currently, Korea is conducting a total of 180 promising overseas oil development projects in 36 countries as of the end of 2010. By now, it has secured a reserve of around 1.63 billion barrels and production of around 176 thousand barrels of oil per day. The self-development rate for oil rose from 2.8% in 2006 to 7.4% in 2010. Not content with these remarkable successes, the korean government is planning to raise its self-development rate in oil to 25% by 2019, by promoting the active participation of Korean companies in overseas oil development projects. This paper is concerned with estimation of the required amount of government subsidies that includes loans and financial support through state-controlled banking institutions in order to reach the target 25% rate by 2019. The estimation results shows that government subsidies of at least 268 million dollars are needed for the current rate of 7.4% in oil. However, the amount sharply increases up to 1.25 billion dollars in 2019 when domestic oil demand rises to 1.02 billion barrels.