The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment (MCEE, Minister Kim Sungwhan) announced that it held the 71st Emissions Certification Committee meeting in writing from September 1 to 2, deliberating and deciding on agenda items including the approval of external projects* and the certification of emission reductions for projects such as solar power facilities, heat pumps, and electric vehicle replacements.

* (External project) A project that reduces, absorbs, or removes greenhouse gas emissions from emission facilities or activities outside companies participating in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) (covered entities). Certified emission reduction results can be used in the emissions trading market.

First, in terms of project approvals, a total of 28 emission reduction projects were approved, including the first-ever hydrogen bus replacement project, as well as projects involving the installation of solar power generation facilities and heat pumps. These projects are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 22,102 tons annually in the future.

In particular, Korea East-West Power’s “Emission Reduction Project through the Installation of Solar Power Generation Facilities at Pyeonggok Elementary School and 10 Other Buildings” includes solar power generation facilities installed at elementary schools and six private homes in Eumseong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do. This is significant in that renewable energy facility projects, which had previously focused mainly on public facilities and apartments, have expanded to individual homes, creating emission reduction outcomes that are closely connected to residents’ daily lives.

For emission reduction certification for projects that had previously been approved and are currently underway, a total of 760,000 tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions were certified across 10 projects, including electric vehicle replacement, heat pump installation, waste refrigerant and sulfur hexafluoride recovery and decomposition, and nitrous oxide catalytic decomposition. The certified emission reductions will subsequently be purchased by covered entities and converted into offset credits for use in the greenhouse gas ETS.

Among these, the certification of emission reductions from Socar’s greenhouse gas reduction project through the introduction of electric vehicles is the first case in which the transition to eco-friendly transportation in daily life using a mobility platform has been officially recognized as a greenhouse gas emission reduction achievement. 

In addition to rental cars and shared vehicles, the government is also working to enable private electric vehicle owners to participate in external projects through vehicle manufacturers and insurance companies.

In addition, two new methodologies were approved at this Certification Committee meeting, including a methodology for the thermal decomposition of sulfur hexafluoride from electrical equipment and a methodology for electricity and heat generation using distributed combined heat and power facilities. 

The MCEE plans to continuously register methodologies that reflect demand from industrial and everyday settings, thereby expanding the scope of external projects.

Ahn Se-jin, Director General for Climate and Energy Policy Bureau at the MCEE, said, “The hydrogen bus and electric vehicle replacement projects and the residential solar power facility project approved this time are representative examples of greenhouse gas reduction in the transportation and daily-life sectors that people can directly experience.” He added, “We will continue to identify and expand external projects so that tangible emission reduction achievements across various sectors can be linked to the emissions trading scheme.”

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