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Phase 2: GHG Impacts of the Seoul Air Quality Management Plan
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History and Objectives
IES programs for
- Team
- Methodology
- Outcomes
- Study Results
- Documents
- Links
History and Objectives
The IES-Republic of Korea program, initiated in February 1999, is a collaboration among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Environment, the Korean Environment Institute (KEI), and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). The objective of the program is to assess and quantify the environmental and public health benefits resulting from integrated measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and local air pollution. The program enhances in-country capacity to conduct co-benefits analysis and assists with policy evaluation for integrated planning.
Two IES-Republic of Korea projects have been conducted to date, and a third project is in planning stages. The first project applied a bottom-up impact analysis approach to evaluate the benefits from integrated mitigation policies and measures in the metropolitan area of Seoul, Korea. The second project evaluated the health and GHG impacts from the Seoul Air Quality Management Plan, and compared them with the expected health and GHG impacts from selected GHG reduction measures. Results from the second IES-Republic of Korea project were released in mid-2007.
Team
The principal investigators for the second phase, completed in 2007, were Dr. Jeongim Park and Dr. Yeora Chae of KEI. Dr. Yong-Gun Kim of KEI led the energy and policy analyses; Dr. Sung-Woo Jeon of KEI led the emissions analysis; Dr. Nankyoung Moon of KEI led the air quality analysis; Dr. Jeongim Park led the health effects analysis; and Professor Young Chul Shin of Daejin University conducted the economic valuation and cost-benefit analyses. In addition, Dr. Sang In Kang of KEI served as a project advisor.
Methodology
The Seoul metropolitan area, including Incheon and Kyonggi, represented the geographical scope of the study. Scientists studied the following GHGs and air pollutants: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM10). The sources of these GHGs and air pollutants were limited to fuel sources (energy industry combustion, nonindustrial combustion, manufacturing industry combustion, and mobile sources). The IES-South Korea team selected 2003 as the base year and 2014 as the year used for estimating scenario impacts. EPA’s Models-3/Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) was used to measure air quality, and EPA’s Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP) was used to calculate the expected impacts of the policies on health endpoints (morbidity and mortality). The study considered four scenarios: a Business as Usual (BAU) scenario, the SAQMP scenario, a GHG Mitigation scenario, and an IES scenario. The SAQMP scenario focused on regulating industrial sources (e.g., total allowable emissions system, emission trading), area sources, onroad mobile sources, and nonroad mobile sources. The GHG scenario assumed a target GHG emission reduction of 10 percent by 2014 and included the most cost-effective measures to meet that target. The IES scenario included integrated measures determined to be the most cost-effective and to have the maximum possible spread and emission reduction potential.
Study Results
The report from the second phase (PDF) (50 pp, 1.1MB, About PDF) was released in mid-2007.
Outcomes
The second phase of IES-Republic of Korea began in 2003 and was completed in 2007. This phase of research focused on a comprehensive set of air pollution and GHG reduction measures for the Seoul metropolitan area. Its objective was to inform the Korean public and policymakers, as well as the research community, of the IES methodology and results.
The study yielded six primary findings: 1) ambient PM levels increased since the 2001 inventory; 2) the majority of PM concentrations resulted from mobile sources; 3) pollution from diesel fuel increased from both mobile and industrial sources; 4) construction activities and vehicles increased pollution by resuspending fine dust particles; 5) long-range pollution from industries outside the city increased from 2005 to 2006; and 6) waste burning represented a significant source of pollution.
Documents
Contains documents generated through Phase 2 of the IES-Republic of Korea analysis.
Links
Korea Environment Institute (KEI) 
KEI, a government-funded research institution founded in 1991 by the Republic of Korea government, seeks to research and develop environmental policies and technology; professionally assess environmental impact statements; and contribute to the prevention and resolution of environmental problems. This institute is the lead in-country partner for the IES-Republic of Korea effort.
Integrated Environmental Strategies-South Korea
This Web site, in Korean, describes the IES-Republic of Korea program.