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The government will inject 373.7 billion won (US$318.8 million) into research
and development (R&D) this year to help the country expand its sustainable
energy infrastructure, officials said Tuesday.
The plan calls for
money going into projects that can permit the country to acquire basic
technology in eco-friendly energy generation, promote research tie-ups between
large conglomerates and smaller businesses, and lay the foundation for
commercial development for green power generation, the Ministry of Knowledge
Economy said.
Funds will be used to help the country build 1 million
private homes that use solar and thermal energy by 2020, and to establish
so-called renewable fuel and portfolio standards, it said.
A renewable
fuel standard aims to promote greater use of clean biofuel in the transportation
sector, while the renewable portfolio standard is designed to increased
production of energy from renewable sources.
In addition, the ministry
said it will help South Korean companies raise their competitiveness in the
building of large wind power turbines that can be exported abroad.
The
R&D fund that will be matched by money from the private sector is expected
to help push up exports by 8.61 trillion won and create 16,000 new jobs this
year compared to 2011 when state R&D stood at 373.8 billion won. It can also
stimulate private sector investment in this field that could go up by 3.55
trillion won in 2012 vis-a-vis the year before.
The ministry,
meanwhile, said that from 2007 through 2011 renewable energy related R&D
helped bolster private investment by 6.6-fold to 4.65 trillion won. It also said
exports and the local job market benefited from the injection of state
funds.
Exports related to renewable energy reached 6.92 trillion won
last year, up from just 700 billion won in 2007, while jobs in this sector
totaled 15,000 from 3,600 four years earlier, it said.