Emergy Mapping of Renewable Energy Sources in Korea

Abstract

Emergy map of renewable energy sources in Korea was made by utilizing the spatial data from the latest satellite-based model to evaluate the emergy of individual energy sources and total renewable empower (emergy per time). Until now, emergy evaluations of nations were limited national total due to its aggregated source data from unevenly distributed weather stations. The sattellite-based spatial data not only improves the accuracy of the measurement but also gives new insight to compare the abundancy of renewable energy spatially. The results showed that the renewable energy with the highest emergy density and quantity was tidal emergy, followed by runoff emergy for density and rain emergy for quantity. These results will contribute to policy development that enables sustainable use of renewable energy sources.