Скачать или смотреть Government's Fine Dust initiative: in-depth analysis

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The government's multi-billion dollar plan to tackle the worsening fine-dust problem includes increasing the number of eco-friendly cars on the roads, raising the price of diesel fuel, and closing down old power plants.
Our Kim Jung-soo goes in-depth and tells us about the specific policy changes that hopefully will allow the Korean public to breathe better air in the near future.

The Ministry of Environment's 4.4 billion U.S. dollar plan is comprised of four main parts.

The ministry's first initiative involves expanding the number of eco-friendly vehicles by 1.5 million units.
A related measure involves installing three-thousand charging stations for electric cars, and 100 charging stations for hydrogen-fueled cars.

The ministry will also offer a 70 percent tax-cut for people who change their old diesel cars for new ones.
The old cars must have been purchased before 2006, and the tax-cut goes in effect for 6 months from the date of purchase.

Thirdly, some ten coal-fired power plants in the country including the ones in Gangneung, Boryung and Yeosu could be shut down, modified or switched to a different energy source in the near future, depending on the environment ministry's plan to be released sometime this month.

Lastly, the ministry will work together with American company IBM this month to further develop its emissions-detection software and algorithms.
The ministry also said it will look into increasing tax rates on diesel oil, as diesel car emissions have recently been identified as a significant culprit in the ongoing fine dust problem.

Four national institutes in environmental research and development will launch a joint task force in July and work to coordinate the best price for diesel and other energy sources.

The environment ministry will finalize its price-adjustment policy by June of 2017, which could close the gap between diesel and gasoline prices from the current 15 percent to 10 percent.

Ministry has also remarked it will work closely with neighboring countries, mainly China, which has been long responsible for sending fine dust particles over the West Sea.

China's current goal is to reduce its fine dust levels by 10 percent until 2017, and Korea will aid this mission by exporting its latest emissions-reduction technology, which involves installing Diesel Particulate Filters on outdated diesel cars.

In addition, a much-needed meeting between the environment ministries from the two nations is scheduled to take place in November.
Kim Jung-soo, Arirang News.


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