Outlook for Green Growth

2009 Green Energy Show draws record number of big firms and foreign buyers to see latest green energy products

The 2009 Green Energy Exhibition took place at COEX in southern Seoul from Oct. 13-16 with 145 firms from 12 countries participating, the largest number of participants in the event’s four-year history, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said recently.
The event is the only energy and trade exhibition held in Korea. This year, it had 587 booths for the participating firms including the New Energy Hall, halls catering to the main theme of the event, an exhibition hall for LED, the Highly Effective Lighting Hall, and four special theme halls.
The event attracted some 30,000 viewers during the four-day run following the opening ceremony led by Vice Minister Lim Chae-min of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, CEO Lee Tae-yong of the Korea Energy Management Corp. and heads of participating firms. Vice MKE Minister Lim presented awards to nine firms for their new innovative technologies related to energy management with the top award going to Hyundai Motor for it’s development of a 100 kw energy battery for vehicles. KOGAS won an award for developing a dimethyl production plant, making it the fourth entity in the world to do so. The significance of the event this year was that a slew of big firms that usually did not attend the annual exhibition came to the event to show off their technologies for boosting energy efficiency as well as reducing greenhouse gases, such as LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Hyosung Corp., Hyundai Heavy Industry and LS Cable, among others. At the special theme halls, such as those for green transportation, LED, effective spotlighting and new growth engines, such new technologies as those for future vehicles and technologies for diversified effective rates and environmentally friendly lighting were put on display.
At the event, SMEs with great growth potential in the areas of automobiles and hybrid scooters were given financial support from Korea Export Bank to display their products in the area of green transportation free of charge. The Korea Intellectual Property Office operated a booth for handling consultations ranging from obtaining intellectual property rights for the application of technologies related to green energy to launching commercial operations.
The event also collected donations of underwear from participating firms under a campaign called “Donation for Love Underwear” and “Underwear Instead of Flower Wreaths,” and the collected underwear will be donated to poor neighbors at the end of the year.
The MKE and KEMC projected that some $14 million worth of export contracts were concluded at the event out of some 200 cases of sales negotiations during the show.
Key sections to be looked at included the hall on solar, wind power plant, energy batteries and others related to new and renewable energy. The hall showed off all parts and finished products in the area of new and renewable energy, which is a rapid growth industry. Also worth visiting was the Green Transportation Hall, which showed off the future of the transportation sector such as a high-speed electric car with a battery compartment down under, which can run at a maximum speed of 130 km/hr and travel as far as 160 km before charging the battery. Hybrid scooters also were worth watching as they can run a distance of 300 km running on methanol and lithium polymer batteries. Visitors could also view a bicycle that runs on electricity.
Among the things that drew the attention of the viewers were the construction materials for a high-tech energy-saving and environmentally friendly house that is also fire-resistant in line with the government policy to save energy in buildings. Houses built with these construction materials can save 1.5 liters of heating fuels per square meter annually as the material is mixed with cement bricks that can generate solar energy.
Other halls that drew large attention included one that showed LED and other highly effective lighting fixtures that could be a future growth engine and lead the growth of the national economy. A LED fluorescent light bulb that can use the existing plugs also attracted huge interest among the viewers, which can be used for 50,000 hours with a 30 percent reduction in C02 emissions, making it extremely environmentally friendly.
On the sidelines of the show, the “Green Conference,” a seminar on future industrial trends, was attended by 23 companies including those from industry, state-run firms and media. The event had 22 different sessions made up of 82 sub-sessions taking up such subjects as “Would V-type growth be possible for the solar power plant industry?” as well as discussing the market trends for solar power in 2010 and investment trends. nw

A slew of dignitaries at the 2009 Green Energy Exhibition including Vice Minister Lim Chae-min of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and CEO Lee Tae-yong of the Korea Energy Management Corp. held Oct. 13-16 at Coex, Seoul, listen to the explanation for an electric motor vehicle from a guide.