Green Options » Korea

Asia Light Years Ahead of the US in Clean Tech Investment — Financial and Economic Consequences

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:50:06 +0000

Asia is investing hundreds of billions of dollars more than the US in clean technology, according to a new report by two research institutions. In the future, the US may be importing trillions of dollars of needed clean technology (and losing countless jobs to Asia) as a result.

In total, the report showed that China, Japan, and South Korea will invest about $509 billion in clean tech over the next 5 years, whereas the US (with our greenest President in decades, maybe ever) is only expected to invest $172 billion (about 3 times less) — this is assuming the climate and energy legislation in Congress passes.

If the US were to invest the same percentage of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as South Korea, it would invest almost $140 billion per year ($700 billion over this five year period)! Compared to China, the anticipated per-GDP investment ratio is 1:4 (US to China).

In 2008, Japan almost matched US R&D spending on energy and achieved almost the same number of international clean energy patents despite having dramatically lower GDP.

The financial investment is not the only thing giving these countries a major advantage in this field, though.

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#1: Clean Energy Patents Hit Record High in the US

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:14:00 +0000

The economy is down, but here is another sign that green technology may be the way out of our economic dilemma. US clean energy patents hit a record high last quarter.

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Police Officer Ordered to Use Excessive Force Jailed as Conscientious Objector

Gavin Hudson — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:34:46 +0000

Korean police officer Lee Gil-jun is in prison on a 2 year sentence for not returning to work after commanding officers ordered him to fire a water cannon into a crowd of peaceful protesters last May.

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Eco Friendly, Naturally Finished Wooden Toys From Korea

Jennifer Lance — Sat, 02 May 2009 17:08:00 +0000

I know, I know, it’s not very eco-friendly to get your children’s toys from across the Pacific Ocean; however, Soopsori wooden toys are beautiful and top quality. Made from 100% natural wood without paint or bolts, these toys are safe, adorable, and ethically produced. Made from 20 different kinds of wood, natural color and texture create variability in these toys.

‘Soopsori’ is much more of a public corporation chasing a common good than a commercial company. We here at ‘Soopsori’ provide you with lifelong memories in addition to wooden toys. As a result, we aim to dedicate ourselves to practicing an honest and reasonable management style. In order to realize this philosophy, we share our profits with environmental NGOs, as a company we feel socially responsible for contributing to a more eco-friendly society. From lumbers that are not taken artificially to making products without any chemical paints, we are aiming to build for an environmentally-secure future. This is our primary objective.

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South Korea Planning to Kill Whales

Levi Novey — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:10:39 +0000

South Korea is planning to permit whaling again off of the country’s shores if Japan’s request to “formally” whale is granted at this year’s meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

Japan has been whaling illegally for several years, despite the International Whaling Commission’s global ban on whaling since 1986. While South Korea has more or less adhered to the whaling ban, they now would like to do it again.

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New Capacitor Could Lead to Ultra-Efficient Electric Cars

Andrew Williams — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:17:23 +0000

A team of US and Korean scientists have announced a major breakthrough in energy storage that could pave the way to a new generation of ultra-efficient electric cars, mobile phones and laptops.

The prototype capacitor, much more powerful than exisiting batteries, is capable of storing power at the same massive density as a supercapacitor (an incredible 10 billion tiny capacitors in every square centimetre), but releasing it as quickly as the fastest electrostatic capacitors.

Speaking about the invention, Gary Rubloff of the University of Maryland said, “Our primary target [for this technology] is as part of a hybrid battery-capacitor system for electric cars, but there are many [potential] small scale applications, [including] better electrical storage systems for cellphones or laptops.”

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Korea is Cleaner than USA, Dirtier than Japan

Gavin Hudson — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:57:07 +0000

I may be biased by my happy life in South Korea, but still I think there are two things that Japan does better. Firstly, Japan excels at making foreign tourists feel like rock stars. Several years back on a school exchange trip to Hokkaido, my group and I received enough popular adoration to make us feel like the Beatles in their heyday. Secondly, Japan is immaculate. For instance, Sapporo may be the fifth biggest city in Japan with a population just larger than Manhattan’s, but when I visited there I saw neither a single plastic bag nor newspaper littering the streets.

Now, it must be said by way of comparison that Korean cities are by and large much cleaner than American ones. Or at least it’s fair to say that the dodgiest parts of Korea’s large cities are still much nicer than their American counterparts. Almost unimaginable in Korea are the dingy, urine stained shop fronts of San Francisco’s Market Street or the sprawling cardboard-house ghettos of LA’s Skid Row. However, almost everywhere you go in Korea you’re unfortunately bound to run into litter.

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Japan Keeps Company With America In More Ways Than One

Reenita Malhotra — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:05:31 +0000

While the U.S. is fretting and fuming, Japan seems to have its own share of problems. The Japanese economy has been relatively insulated from the collapse of the U.S. credit and housing markets that precipitated the global crisis but the truth is that it faces its worst economic crisis since World War Two.

Low domestic consumption coupled with an unprecedented slump in exports (such as cars and electronics) has shrunk Japan’s economy by 3.3 percent, its worst result since the first oil crisis in 1974. Japan’s finance minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, who should be facing the music has resigned, denying allegations that he was drunk at a G7 news conference. Apparently he took too much cough medicine instead! (Reuters)

This coincides with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Japan where she praised the U.S.-Japan alliance stating that the United States and Asia needed to work together on the global financial crisis and climate change. Noble words from the Secretary of State but one can only wonder whether the concern is actually about addressing the economics and environment situation or whether in fact the U.S. desperately needs to reinforce ties with Japan given their increasing concern over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Your thoughts?

Image credit: Latest Business Updates

Korea’s Daewoo Leases Half of Madagascar’s Arable Land for Free

Amiel Blajchman — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:58:01 +0000

According to a report from the Financial Times, Korea’s Daewoo has just completed a deal to lease an area about half the size of Belgium (about 1.3 million hectares) in Madagascar for food production. The most surprising part of this lease is that the initial cost to Daewoo is nothing. That’s right, zip, nada, zilch.

Why is a South Korean company leasing so much land on another continent?

According to a Daewoo spokesperson:

We want to plant corn there to ensure our food security. Food can be a weapon in this world,” said Hong Jong-wan, a manager at Daewoo. “We can either export the harvests to other countries or ship them back to Korea in case of a food crisis.
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Korean Designers Invent Wind Powered Battery Charger

Andrew Williams — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:16:57 +0000

A team of young Korean designers have invented a battery charger that runs on 100% renewable energy. The Febot might look a bit like a torpedo that’s gone wrong, but the in-built propellors mean that each one can generate enough energy to top up a rechargable AA battery.

Now here’s the fun bit. The Febot comes with a suction cup that allows you to attach it to pretty much any flat surface or structure. In theory, you could attach it to the outside of your window, or even the top of your car. Just imagine—a tiny little wind farm all of your own.

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The Lindberg Report Podcast: An Interview with Gavin Hudson

Max Lindberg — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:17:11 +0000

Gavin is lead writer for EcoWorldly, one of the excellent blog sites here in the Green Options Network.

Gavin has majors in French, Italian, and Comparative Literature from the University of California, Davis. He currently teaches English language in Gangneung, South Korea.

Gavin’s favorite environmentally-minded work has included: co-founding the grassroots Nature Conservation Club at about age 8; interning for the Jane Goodall Institutes’s Roots & Shoots (R&S) program; representing R&S at the World Social Forum VI in Caracas, Venezuela; volunteering at the Marine Mammal Center of Sausalito; being a research assistant for a CAL lab studying climate change in Colorado; bicycling lots.

Join me as Gavin and I talk about his world, and Eco Worldly.

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Link to Barefoot Solar Engineers mentioned in my summation.

Link to Eco Worldly