Trade ministry to cut coal energy, use more eco-friendly energy to reduce fine dust

And to tackle the fine dust problem.... the energy ministry plans to cut coal-fired power plants and use more environmentally-friendly sources of energy.But with such plans... the price of coal energy is expected to rise.Yoon Jung-min has details. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to reduce the use of coal and increase renewable energy to tackle the severe fine dust pollution in the country.The government's long-term energy supply plan will run from this year until 2033.According to the ministry, energy from coal-fired power plants, which is considered a major cause of air pollution, will be cut from 45-point-4 percent to 36-point-1 percent of the country's total energy supply by 2030.Liquefied Natural Gas and renewable energy are likely to replace it, as the government plans to increase their proportions to nearly 20 percent. Meanwhile, nuclear energy will be reduced following the government's policy to move away from nuclear power.The ministry plans to raise the costs of coal-based energy by including emissions trading and environmental costs, which had been excluded from its price, to reduce the use of coal.Currently, power is supplied based on fuel costs to seek economic efficiency.The least-expensive sources of energy, such as nuclear and coal power, were preferred,... but the new plan will reduce the price gap between coal and LNG,... and allow more environmentally-friendly energy to be generated.The energy shift, however, is expected to raise overall electricity charges.The ministry plans to close coal-fired power plants that have been operating for longer than thirty years,... and replace some of them with eco-friendly fuels such as LNG or wood pellets.Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.