Environmental and economic assessment of the chemical absorption process in Korea using the LEAP model

CO2 emission from fossil fuels is a major cause for the global warming effect, but it is hard to remove completely in actuality. Moreover, energy consumption is bound to increase for the continuous economic development of a country that has an industrial formation requiring high-energy demand. Therefore, we need to consider not only a device for CO2 mitigation but also its impact when a CO2 mitigation device is applied. The device for CO2 emission mitigation can be classified into three fields: energy consumption reduction, development of CO2 removal and recovery technology, and development of alternative energy technology. Among these options, CO2 removal and recovery technology has a merit that can be applied to a process in the near future. Therefore, research for CO2 removal and recovery is actively progressing in Korea. In this study, environmental and economic assessment according to the energy policy change for climate change agreement and increase of CO2 mitigation technology is accomplished, on the bases of operating data for the CO2 chemical absorption pilot plant that is installed in the Seoul coal steam power plant. The Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP) was used to analyze the alternative scenario, and results were shown quantitatively. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.