Former environment minister Lee Maanee
The 36th ENVEX, an international environment industry technology and green energy exhibition, which took place at COEX in Seoul from June 10-13, attracted 270 exhibitors: 186 Korean companies and 84 foreign firms.
In particular, among the eye-catching foreign companies in the Foreign Company Pavilion participating in the fair was Austep, a leader in the design and construction of water treatment and biogas plants for the production of energy from renewable sources.
Austep President and CEO Alessandro Massone
Austep¡¯s participation in the exhibition was designed to suggest ways of coping with food waste, one of the environmental problems plaguing Korea. The company showcased the latest technology of treating food waste: employing anaerobic digestion, rated to be the best treatment system in terms of environmental and economical aspects, which leads the production of biogas for recycling of energy and heat.
The fair also coincided with a seminar on bio energy - food waste sponsored by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, which took place at COEX on June 12.
The participants of a seminar on big energy - food waste, sponsored by the Ministry of
Science, ICT and Future Planning, pose hand in hand for a group photo. (Photos: SNenergy)
The speakers of the seminar were former environment minister Lee Maanee, who spoke about the future direction of Korea¡¯s environment policies; Park Soon-chul, senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Energy Research, who touched on the current status and prospects of the development of biogas; and Shin Hang-shik, professor emeritus at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Techno-logy (KAIST), who spoke about ways of operating an anaerobic digester.
Austep President and CEO Alessandro Massone also spoke about the current status of the European bio energy industry and related technology, presenting those attending the seminar with an opportunity to take a look into the latest advanced information on bio energy from advanced countries.
The seminar also highlighted a biogas case in which SNenergy Co., a Korean leader in biogas research, is building an advanced plant on Jeju Island, adopting Austep¡¯s new technology. Environment officials from local governments paid keen interest in SNenergy¡¯s project. Kim Ki-Chul, president and CEO of SNenergy, received a doctorate degree from KAIST. He held such positions as senior researcher in information and communications engineering at KAIST, assistant professor at Soongsil University Information and Communications Engineering Department, and a senior research at the Electronics Telecomm-unications Research Institute (ETRI). Kim also served as the chairman of the Speech Information Technology Industry Association, a director of the Korea Venture Business Association, president of Mediaford, and president of GN Smart.
Ex-environment minister Lee said the government should push ahead with dramatic policies to develop and spread environmentally-friendly big energy resources. He stressed a need for Korea¡¯s building of infrastructure for opening and exporting Korean-type verification equipment combining component technologies in flammable and organic fields by 2020, adding that a roadmap for support for optimization through a working-level consultation committee and implementation evaluation system should be established along with the introduction of incentives and penalties.
Austep President Massone told the seminar that the Korean biogas energy industry is forecast to make strides as the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and a ban against throwing food waste into oceans have been implemented.
The biggest benefit from Austep¡¯s technology is the highly efficient production of power through the treatment of food waste, Massone said. Specifically, he said, treating 100 tons of food waste on a daily basis could generate 1.2MW of power per hour. Given the fact that the technology will yield an estimated 200,000 won in proceeds from the selling of power per 1MW and guarantee more than 8,000 hours of operation yearly, he said, it will bring about economic benefits worth 1.92 billion won plus additional profits from the marketing of fertilizers and commissioned treatment of waste.