Green Options

Jeju island in South Korea is said to have three things in abundance: wind, women, and rocks. But neither the rocks nor even the women are creating as much stir these days as the wind.

The goal of Jeju is 500 MW of wind power by 2020. That would cover 20% of the island’s energy needs. And that’s not including the island’s existing solar energy. However, the rapid growth of the wind energy industry has some people asking “who owns the wind?”

As in other regions where wind farms are springing up around the globe, some locals on Jeju island find themselves divided into supporters and opponents of wind farm development.

Before visiting Jeju’s two existing 10 MW and 15 MW wind farms, I spoke with Kim Dong-joo, an activist at the center of the wind energy conflict, in his office at the Korea Federation for Environmental Movement of Jeju.

“It’s a really good thing to spread renewable energy. Jeju island has a very strong wind to use for power generation, so many companies have made plans to invest to make a wind farm to earn money,” says Mr. Kim. “But,” he says, “these companies have only one goal; that is to earn money. So they do not think of anything like citizen participation and democratic decision-making. They did not think of anything, just earning money. So I think the cause of this social conflict is that the companies don’t think about the people involved on Jeju.

Solar System Powers Donggwang Green Village on Semi-Tropical Jeju Island

Donggwang is on the western half of Jeju-do, the largest of South Korea’s semi-tropical southern islands. Near the village, Halla Mountain, a volcano and the tallest mountain in South Korea, rises from the island’s center amidst a patchwork of small farms.

Donggwang has achieved what even the most powerful countries in the world are still struggling to accomplish: total energy independence with clean technology.