농업부문 바이오매스의 이용활성화를 위한 정책방향과 전략(2/2차연도)

Abstract

바이오매스(biomass)란 에너지원과 자원으로서의 생물체량을 의미하는 것으로 농림업과 밀접한 관련이 있다. 바이오매스의 개발과 이용은 지금까지도 중요시되어 왔으나 앞으로도 매우 중요한 과제가 될 것으로 예상된다. 그 이유는 농림업바이오매스의 역할이 지금까지 담당해 오던 식량과 목재의 공급이라는 것 외에 지속가능하고 친환경적 에너지와 바이오제품의 공급이라는 새로운 영역까지 확장되고 있기 때문이다. 현재 바이오에너지 선진국의 바이오에너지 개발은 농림 부산물을 활용하기보다는 주산물을 원료로 하기 때문에 식량과 에너지의 경합문제, 환경훼손 문제 등이 제기되고 있다. 그럼에도 불구하고 바이오에너지는 재생가능하고, 대체에너지의 확보, 대기오염 감소, 원료 재배농가의 소득창출이라는 긍정적 효과를 지니고 있기 때문에 전 세계적으로 개발열풍이 불고 있는 실정이다. 이 연구는 바이오매스를 보다 효과적으로 이용할 수 있는 방향을 제시하고 정책적으로 뒷받침해야 할 과제 도출과 추진전략을 강구하기 위해 2006년부터 2007년까지 수행되었다. 1년차에서는 국내 농업부문 바이오매스 이용실태 파악과 문제점 발굴 등이 시도되었고, 바이오매스 이용 선진국들의 관련 제도와 정책 등을 소개하였다. 2년차에서는 국내외 바이오에너지 개발 동향에 대해 검토하고 시사점을 정리하였다. 또한 농림업 부문에서 발생하는 바이오매스의 자원화에 따른 경제성 분석을 통해 우리나라 입장에서 바이오매스 이용활성화를 위한 방안과 전략 등을 제시하였다.

Biomass is the total mass of living organisms in an ecosystem as a source of energy and raw materials. It is closely related with agriculture and forestry since it is mostly composed of agricultural products, by-products, animal manure, by-products from forestry activities, industrial wood waste, and food waste. The development and utilization of biomass have been a very important task and will continuously be treated as an important subject in the future. This study is a two-year project with the main purposes of developing efficient utilization systems and finding tasks and strategies to make and support policies. This study began with subjects such as grasping the current situation, excavating the problems, and finding tasks for domestic agricultural biomass utilization. Related institutions and policies of developed countries on biomass were also introduced. For the second period of the study, utilization trends and suggestions on biomass have been summarized, and policy directions and strategies of biomass utilization have been also presented based on economic analyses. Many countries around the world are interested in developing bioenergy because it plays an important role in solving various problems caused by high crude oil price, intensive use of fossil fuel, and stagnancy of agriculture. Bioenergy may be gaseous, liquid or solid. The worldwide interest focuses on biofuel, a liquid type of bioenergy. Bioethanol and biodiesel are representative biofuels which replace gasoline and diesel. The United States and Brazil are the main producers of bioethanol and their share of total production is 85%. Biodiesel, on the other hand, is mainly produced by member countries of the EU. The different trends of biofuel production are strongly related to the resource reserves in the production regions. The development of bioenergy in Korea is just at the beginning stage. Bioethanol is being tested for introduction after the actual proof of assessment. On the other hand, biodiesel has been in the early stages of commercialization since 2006. The market size of biodiesel is 90 thousand kilo-liters, and its share accounts for only 0.5% of all diesel consumption. However, Korea is not in the real development stage since soybean oil, the main feedstock, is still imported from abroad. Rapeseed and soybeans are good candidates for the feedstock of biodiesel when we assess the feasibility of feedstock based on production level, cost, technology and breeds. For bioethanol, rice (stock) and sweet potatoes are relatively good feedstocks. The development of bioenergy in developed countries is mainly based on the competitive resources of their own. Grain-based biofuel, however, has been accompanied by unexpected serious side effects, such as environmental problems and decrease of food and feed. Some developed countries are making every effort to make biofuel from fiber, which will solve the problems caused by side effects. Bioenergy development depends on the resource reserves, technology, etc. but ultimately relies on the will of a government to develop bioenergy. We need to be very careful, consequently, in developing bioenergy. It is required to find the most proper way for development. It cannot be done simply by adopting the existing method that developed countries are applying, but by finding ways that do not cause serious side effects to our country. For this purpose, we need to carefully set up development strategies based on good choice and concentration. For biodiesel, the conditions of good feedstock are that it should be easy to be adopted and its production is positively related to the household incomes just like rapeseed. For bioethanol, it is difficult to secure feedstock based on large-scale domestic cultivation. Therefore, we need to push forward our bioenergy development focusing on cellulosic ethanol, the second generation bioenergy which does not come into conflict with food for its feedstock. It is required not to be stingy with progressive investments and supports for the development of bioenergy which is fit for our circumstances. Biomass from agricultural and forestry activities is usually scattered about in vast areas, and this makes it difficult to collect and be economically viable. The utilization of waste resources as feedstock, however, contributes to preventing global warming. And the production of bioenergy and biomaterials from biomass can expand into a new industry that leads to activate agriculture and rural society and form cyclic local areas. Various forms of biomass, such as agricultural by-products, animal manure, and wood wastes of forest activities, are obtained in rural areas. Hence, it is required to prepare a comprehensive utilization system which will lead to the efficient use of biomass from various sources, rather than focusing on biomass from a single source. The tentatively-named and locally-managed “Biomass Resource Center” is required to make biomass into energy or material resources. It is the prior task to obtain facilities and labor to produce compost, feed, and other biomaterials as well as gas and electricity from various biomass. The manure and feed should be reused for agricultural production, and the gas and electricity must be utilized for local households and agricultural activities. To operate these systems centering around the local biomass resource center, active participation of every stakeholder is a prerequisite to success, and the role of the central government is also very important. Researchers: Park Hyun-Tae, Kim Yean-Jung, Lee Sang-Min, and Han Hye-Sung Research Period: 2007.1~2007.12 E-mail address: htpark@krei.re.kr, yjkim@krei.re.kr, smlee@krei.re.kr, funny1978@krei.re.kr