A Review on Public Understanding of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) in South Korea

Since the Paris Agreement, member countries have set national goals clearly stated in the “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDC) to reduce the intended amount of carbon dioxide. In many other countries, the government has invested in national R&D to promote cleaner energy and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects that is considered as one of the most pragmatic means to achieve the set mitigation target in a national scale. In some country, the control and management of CO2 has been implemented in new technical systems called CO2 smart grids. However, along with continual CCS R&D, laws and regulatory interventions supporting its technical pillars should mutually encompass its development. Without public understanding, technological development cannot be fully implemented by the involved public and private entities permitting to attain the set mitigation targets. In previous research, only few studies on public understanding have linked its policies to the actual valid legislation. This article therefore aims to review the overall public understanding conditions on CCS in Korea and to systematically outline public understanding in actual Acts as well as in the Draft of Korean integrated CCS Act. Finally, this research tried to imply regulatory intervention guidelines on public understanding of CCS along with possible improvement for the next revision of the Korean CCS Act.