Illustrative image. (Photo: Yonhap)Hanoi (VNA) – The Republic of Korea rankedfifth in per capita energy consumption among member states of the Organisationfor Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2016, the RoK-based newsagency Yonhap reported on April 16.
Data recently released show that each Korean citizenconsumed an average of 5.6 TOE (tonne of oil equivalent) during that year. Thefigure placed them after the people of Norway (9.2 TOE), Canada (9.1), theUnited States (7.1) and Australia (5.7).
The RoK ranked even higher at No. 2 in terms of their per capita consumption ofcoal, which reached 1.6 TOE, following Australia's 1.8, according to thefigures provided by Statistics Korea and the local energy industry.
The latest measurement on coal consumption marks a 45.5percent increase from 1.1 TOE 10 years ago, indicating that the Republic ofKorea is going opposite the general trend among OECD members of curtailing useof coal as an energy source.
Energy industry officials say the RoK continues to rely heavily on coal forpower generation. In 2016, the country used 77.61 million tonnes offree-burning coal to produce energy, accounting for 65 percent of the totalcoal consumed for the year.
Officials also point to low electricity prices compared to OECD states. TheRoK’s cost of household electricity is 119 USD per megawatt-hour, lower thanthe OECD average of 184.60 USD. Such low prices encourage excessive use ofpower, which creates greater need for cheaper coal to produce electricity, theysay.
"We need to overhaul the system of using low-cost energy sources first andmake electricity prices more realistic in order to end such a negativecycle," a RoK official said.-VNA
VNA
