The South Korean government is set to begin developing technology to utilize livestock manure, primarily used as fertilizer, as a power generation fuel. The initiative aims to convert manure into solid fuel to produce electricity and heat, thereby reducing environmental pollution and expanding the use of renewable energy.
On July 28, the Ministry of Climate Energy and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will hold a kickoff meeting for the 'Biomass Solid Fuel Production and Utilization Technology Development' project at the Summit One Seoul Station in central Seoul, sharing their research and development (R&D) plans.
This project is designed to address environmental issues stemming from reduced agricultural land and excessive fertilizer application, while also replacing imported wood pellets and chips with domestic resources for biomass fuel. The government plans to use solid fuel made from livestock manure in power plants to generate electricity and heat, achieving both water pollution reduction and an increase in renewable energy use.
From this year until 2029, the two ministries will invest a total of 29.8 billion won (approximately $24.5 million) to develop the necessary technologies for the entire process of producing and utilizing solid fuel from livestock manure. The Ministry of Agriculture will focus on industrializing solid fuel technology, while the Ministry of Climate will enhance technologies for production, utilization, and pollution prevention.
The Ministry of Agriculture plans to establish a standardized system for the collection of manure and agricultural byproducts, including tracking and quality control, and to develop low-energy drying technology and dedicated fermentation and drying processes to ensure a stable production base for solid fuel. They will also work on a smart production system to manage the production process in real-time and develop solid fuel that can be used without separate compression or molding.
The Ministry of Climate will establish a demonstration facility capable of producing 15 tons of solid fuel per day with a calorific value of over 3,500 kcal/kg, using livestock manure, coffee grounds, and agricultural byproducts. The produced fuel will be used to develop and demonstrate co-firing operations for 330 MW power generation facilities and a 4 MW combined heat and power boiler.
Additionally, technologies to reduce environmental pollutants generated during the production and utilization processes will be developed. During production, ammonia recovery and wastewater treatment technologies will be enhanced, while during utilization, catalytic filtration technologies will be tested to reduce air pollutants and verify zero-liquid discharge wastewater treatment technologies. A life cycle assessment (LCA) will also be conducted to confirm greenhouse gas reduction effects.
The two ministries aim to establish a collaborative system that links the entire process from raw material procurement and quality control to solid fuel production, utilization, and pollution reduction.
Kim Go-eung, Director of the Resource Circulation Bureau at the Ministry of Climate, stated, "The method of handling livestock manure needs a fundamental transformation in response to social and environmental changes. We will actively support technology development to build a solid fuel ecosystem from livestock manure."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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