South Korea's drive for renewable energy (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Lucy Williamson
BBC News, South Korea

The inside of a wind turbine is an odd kind of place: somewhere between upside-down coal-mine and lighthouse.

The noise of clanging steel echoes up the 60m (197ft) ladder, as heavy switches are tripped, dials monitored and the huge blades outside start their slow circling whoosh.

Wind power is becoming increasingly important to South Korea - not just as a way to help meet ambitious targets on greenhouse gas emissions, but also as a way to boost the economy.

"Green Growth" has been a key national strategy since President Lee Myung-bak took office four years ago.

It's given rise to a vast range of policies - from waste-management to air-quality to renewable energy. And - this being South Korea - exports are a central part of that.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15984399




Ironically, *NORTH* Korea has some of the best hydropower sites in the world -- one reason Japan was so keen to take it over following the Russo-Japanese War. Power from Korean dams drove Japanese production of war materiel in WWII, including the Japanese atomic bomb programs.

[baldguy]

1. S Korea, China, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, etc. etc

These counties will be the dominant economies in the 21st century. Those that cannot or refuse to develop renewable energy resources will be left in the dust.