Global open letter: South Korea must take the lead in climate action by eliminating Renewable Energy Certificates for biomass power

The document argues that biomass power in South Korea is a 'false solution' to climate change that causes significant carbon emissions and deforestation. It highlights that biomass has become the second-largest renewable electricity source in Korea due to high REC weightings, despite being more expensive than solar and wind. The authors call for the immediate removal of REC weightings for new utility-scale biomass facilities and a phased sunset of weightings for existing plants by 2025 and 2028.

• Biomass power in South Korea has grown 42 times since the 2012 introduction of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), becoming the second-largest renewable electricity source and producing three times more power than wind.
• Between 2015 and the date of the letter, the Korean biomass power fleet is estimated to have burned 50 million metric tons of wood, resulting in cumulative emissions of over 70 MtCO2 and receiving 3.7 billion USD in RECs.
• South Korea's biomass imports include wood pellets from Russia, which have increased eight-fold since the invasion of Ukraine, as well as sources from Canada, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia.
• The document claims South Korea uses carbon accounting loopholes to shift the mitigation burden to poorer producer countries, transferring 5.8 MtCO2 of emissions in 2022 alone, which offsets a large portion of the government's domestic forest carbon sink goals.
• Biomass is described as a 'stranded industry' and one of the most expensive electricity sources, with generation costs exceeding those of solar and wind; solar costs have dropped to 11% of their level a decade ago, while biomass remains at 75%.
• The signatories propose a three-step phase-out of REC weightings: immediate removal for future utility-scale facilities, a 2025 phase-out for facilities operating before 2018, and a 2028 phase-out for those starting operations between 2018 and 2023.

APA

Trend Asia (2024). Global open letter: South Korea must take the lead in climate action by eliminating Renewable Energy Certificates for biomass power. https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Open-letter-to-South-Korean-government-re-biomass-REC.pdf

Chicago

Trend Asia. Global open letter: South Korea must take the lead in climate action by eliminating Renewable Energy Certificates for biomass power. 2024. https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Open-letter-to-South-Korean-government-re-biomass-REC.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Trend Asia |title=Global open letter: South Korea must take the lead in climate action by eliminating Renewable Energy Certificates for biomass power |date=5 April 2024 |url=https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Open-letter-to-South-Korean-government-re-biomass-REC.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{trendasia2024global, author = {{Trend Asia}}, title = {{Global open letter: South Korea must take the lead in climate action by eliminating Renewable Energy Certificates for biomass power}}, publisher = {Trend Asia}, year = {2024}, month = apr, url = {https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Open-letter-to-South-Korean-government-re-biomass-REC.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }