Page 11 - aruba-today-20190216

A11
WORLD NEWS Saturday 16 February 2019

North Korea exploring sanctions-proof energy technologies

NAMPO, North Korea (AP) Glyn Ford, a former mem-
— Power-strapped North ber of the European Parlia-
Korea is exploring two am- ment with extensive expe-
bitious alternative energy rience with the North, said
sources — tidal power and he has had several discus-
coal-based synthetic fuels sions with North Korean offi-
— that could greatly im- cials regarding tidal power
prove living standards and and even helped arrange
reduce its reliance on oil a study tour to a facility in
imports and vulnerability to the UK a decade ago. He
sanctions. said they have tried to in-
Finding a lasting energy vite experts to the North.
source that isn't vulnerable The country is perfectly situ-
to sanctions has long been ated for tidal power.
a top priority for North Ko- "The bulk of the Korean
rean officials. Leader Kim Peninsula's west coast is a
Jong Un used his New Year's rich tidal power resource,"
address last month to call Ford said in a telephone in-
on the country to "radically terview with The AP. "There
increase the production of are some detailed studies
electricity" and singled out of the potential in South Ko-
the coal-mining industry as rea and the same resourc-
a "primary front in devel- es are there to be exploited
oping the self-supporting north of the Demilitarized
economy." For the longer- Zone."
term, he stressed the impor- The world's largest function-
tance of atomic, wind and ing tidal power plant is lo-
tidal power. cated near the South Kore-
Since further development an city of Ansan. It opened
of atomic energy is unlikely In this Feb. 2, 2019, photo, North Koreans men walk with the background of the West Sea Barrage in 2011 and produces
anytime soon, the power- in Nampo, North Korea. about enough power to
scarce country is develop- Associated Press support a city of 500,000.
ing technology to "gasify" Kim Jong Un has shown a
coal into substitute motor opted instead for nuclear trucks moving. produce synthetic fuels, in- strong penchant for mo-
fuels. It also is looking into weapons. That brought Given North Korea's limited dustrial chemicals and fer- bilizing his million-man mili-
using huge sea barriers with some of the most intense options, it's a technology tilizers. tary on big projects. And
electricity-generating tur- sanctions ever applied by that appears to be paying Now that China has re- the North has shown it can
bines to harness the power the United Nations against off. duced its coal imports build something like a tidal
of the ocean's tides. the country, making its en- The output from just one from the North in line with power plant.
Coal and hydropower are ergy situation even more gasifier unit reportedly des- the sanctions, there's more One of North Korea's
North Korea's main energy precarious. tined for the North Sunchon available for gasification. proudest accomplishments
resources. The North im- But coal is something North Chemical Plant, north of "The project appears to pro- is the gigantic West Sea
ports nearly all of its oil and Korea has in abundance. Pyongyang, could yield vide a significant benefit to Barrage, which was com-
petroleum products from It's used to supply thermal synthetic fuel amounting the DPRK, in terms of supply- pleted in 1986 at a cost of
China. Solar panels are vis- power plants and factories, to about 10 percent of the ing fuels to compensate for $4 billion. The huge seawall
ible just about everywhere, to heat homes and to make North's recent petroleum petroleum product imports near the city of Nampo, a
from urban balconies to ru- fertilizer and even a kind of supply, according to a re- that run afoul of United Na- port about an hour's drive
ral farm buildings and mili- cloth, called Vinylon. Slow- cent study for the Nautilus tions Security Council sanc- from the capital, crosses
tary installations. Wind re- running, smoke-belching Institute by David von Hip- tions passed in the last two the mouth of the Taedong
mains a very minor energy trucks that use a gasifica- pel and Peter Hayes, two years, although the project River and helps control
source. tion process with firewood of the foremost experts on will not completely replace flooding and reduce the
The North's renewed focus are common in the North the issue. The study cited all lost imports on its own," amount of salt that seeps in
on oil alternatives under- Korean countryside. Coal as one of its sources a Wall they wrote in the report. from the ocean, increasing
scores what some foreign isn't generally seen as a Street Journal report from DPRK is short for the North's the amount and quality of
observers believe are two good oil-product substitute December that tracked official name, the Demo- arable land.
of its long-term best bets. because converting it to the unit to a Chinese ex- cratic People's Republic of "The attraction is that, apart
Kim's late father, Kim Jong a liquid form is inefficient porter. Korea. from the turbines, it is all a
Il, tried to get international and expensive — coal gas- The facility is believed to The North's interest in tidal gigantic earth-moving proj-
support for developing ification was last used on be a center of "C-1" tech- energy also reflects a prac- ect," Ford said. "That's ideal
nuclear power in the 1990s a large scale in Nazi Ger- nology, which uses coal to tical desire to exploit exist- for the Korean People's
before the North ultimately many to keep its cars and make a kind of gas used to ing resources. Army skillset."q