– UN FAO and Gyeonggi Province Will Host International Workshop for Renewable Energy

Gyeonggi Province will host the “UN FAO-Gyeonggi Province International Workshop for Renewable Energy” for four days starting on December 1, 2008, in cooperation with international organizations including UN FAO and the World Bank as well as the Korean central government and the governments of Northeast Asian nations including China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Other stakeholders include tech experts from nations with advanced renewable energy industries such as Germany, Denmark, and the US.

The international community established the “Bali Roadmap” at the 13th general session of the UN Climate Change Conference, which was held in Bali, Indonesia, at the end of 2007. The roadmap mandates all nations around the world, including not only advanced nations that have an obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also developing nations whose obligations are temporarily postponed, to discuss the post-2012 reduction target for carbon emissions.

Gyeonggi Province has a large number of livestock farmers, accounting for about 20% of the national total, which means that the province is in a highly favorable position to generate power and bio gas using animal excretion as a renewable energy source (bio mass).

As part of the province¡¯s efforts to actively participate in the initiatives of the international community, it jointly hosted an international symposium for the development of renewable energy with the World Bank and UN FAO in January of 2008. The symposium served as a venue for international cooperation to prevent global warming.

In addition, Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo visited the UN headquarters, where he had a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Secretary-General Ban pledged to support the efforts of the province in this area.

This workshop will focus on the effective management of animal excretions and livestock wastewater, one of the major culprits in environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Northeast Asia, and will present methods by which these can be harnessed as energy sources.

The workshop will be attended by field managers from related organizations. The technologies developed in advanced nations to reduce greenhouse gases created by the livestock industry will be highlighted, as well as the supports of international organizations for commercialization of CDM. The workshop also features a program to produce technological and financial solutions as well as policies for the production of bio-gas through simulation with virtual farm models, making the workshop extremely meaningful as a venue for the education and training of domestic experts.

Field trips to livestock farms and bio-gas power plants will also take place so as, to determine the domestic status and feasibility of the commercialization.

Gyeonggi Province aims to actively participate in the international community’s responses to climate change while presenting the detailed plan to achieve “Green Growth with Low Carbon Emission,” the new vision for the national development of Korea, through the four-day workshop.

The province plans to cooperate with the international community to hold regular events, and to develop these events into meaningful partnerships for the development of renewable energy in Northeast Asia to prevent global warming.