Inspired by solar REC system, certification aims to reduce waste and expand bio gas market via trading
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment has begun designing a bio gas supply certification system. The goal is to establish a system plan within next year and revise related laws the following year to implement the system. The ministry plans to expand demand for bio gas through the design of the supply certification system.
According to the Bio Gas Information Portal on the 3rd, bio gas is produced through the anaerobic digestion of organic waste such as sewage sludge, excrement, livestock manure, food waste, and plant/animal residues. Its main components are methane and carbon dioxide, possessing characteristics similar to natural gas.
Bio gas is known to have various economic and environmental effects, including enhancing energy self-sufficiency, reducing waste treatment costs, and supporting carbon neutrality in the industrial sector. Accordingly, the ministry has been promoting the 'Bio Gas Production and Utilization Promotion Strategy' for the eco-friendly treatment of organic waste resources and the realization of carbon neutrality.
A representative policy is the bio gas production target system. In 2022, the ministry enacted the 'Bio Gas Production and Utilization Promotion Act (Bio Gas Act)', imposing an obligation on private and public businesses that emit large amounts of organic waste resources to produce a certain percentage of bio gas.
Accordingly, the public sector must produce 50% of organic waste resources as bio gas from this year to 2034, and the private sector must produce 10% from next year to 2034.
Although the implementation of this system is expected to increase domestic bio gas production from this year, the institutional foundation for efficiently utilizing the produced bio gas remains insufficient. Currently, the produced bio gas is mainly consumed within facilities or partially utilized in nearby areas.
In fact, about 15% of the bio gas produced over the past three years has been discarded without being utilized. According to data on the 'Bio Gas Production Status' received by Rep. Kim Tae-sun's office from the Democratic Party of Korea from the Ministry of Environment, the non-utilization rates in the public and private sectors were ▲15.4% in 2021 ▲14.6% in 2022 ▲14.9% in 2023.
To address these limitations, the ministry is pushing to introduce a bio gas supply certification system, referencing the solar power REC (Renewable Energy Certificate) system. The REC system is a system under the Renewable Energy Supplier Obligation (RPS) system that allows power producers to prove they have generated electricity from renewable energy and trade the certificates.
If this bio gas certification system is implemented, producers are expected to be able to inject bio gas into city gas pipelines, sell it to combined heat and power plants, or sell it to distant companies through certificate trading. Companies can obtain official certification for their eco-friendly activities by purchasing certificates.
A source from the ministry stated, "We plan to establish a system plan within next year and revise laws the following year to implement the supply certification system," adding, "We expect this to expand both the demand and supply of bio gas."