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.