Crypto News: K-pop fans fight big coal

Today's newsletter looks at what happens when a coal plant threatens a Korean pop music landmark. You can read the full story on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news — and to receive the Bloomberg Green magazine — please subscribe.

By Heesu Lee

As heavy rains pummeled South Korea last month, K-pop fans braved stormy conditions to stage a protest on an east coast beach that's become synonymous with the genre and is now a flashpoint for concerns over the environmental impact of the country's unwavering coal addiction.

The long stretch of soft, silver sand at Maengbang was the site of a famous photo shoot for the sleeve of BTS's 2021 hit song Butter and is now a pilgrimage site for the band's devotees. Just six miles away, a gigantic coal-burning power plant is under construction and could be fired up as soon as October. Dotted along the shoreline are dredgers completing work to add artificial sand, groynes, jetties and breakwaters to prevent further coastal erosion.

Samcheok Blue Power Co.'s coal-fired power plant under construction on July 11. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho

"K-pop fans are sincerely concerned, not only because our precious spot is getting destroyed," said Lee Da-yeon, a 20-year-old English literature student who was part of the recent protest. "When we come together as a global legion of K-pop fans, we believe we have the power and influence to tackle the most devastating issue of our time — climate change."

Protest group Kpop4planet launched the "Save the Butter Beach" campaign in 2021 with nonprofit Korea Beyond Coal, aiming to harness the immense influence that K-pop enthusiasts have been known to wield online. While the demonstrations are unlikely to halt the new coal-fired plant in Samcheok, Gangwon province, the fans' advocacy is highlighting concerns over President Yoon Suk Yeol's approach to climate change.

Yoon has backtracked on the scale of solar and wind energy deployments, even as companies like Samsung Electronics Co. and their investors urge a swifter switch to cleaner power. His government favors the expansion of nuclear plants and the use of carbon offsets or technologies that can help sustain the consumption of fossil fuels.

Coal is expected to account for about 20% of South Korea's power generation by the end of the decade, retaining a crucial role in the nation's energy mix even as that share falls from about a third in 2021.

In fact, a total of 7.3 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity will be added in South Korea between 2020 and 2025, and only 3.6 gigawatts removed, according to government data compiled by Bloomberg. Gangwon alone will be home to about a fifth of that capacity by the end of next year, the data show.

The construction of the new port for the power plant. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho

South Korea's previous government pledged to cut emissions 40% below 2018 levels by 2030, a policy already criticized as underwhelming by Climate Action Tracker, a research project led by nonprofit groups. Since taking office last year, Yoon has also diluted some key targets, like giving major corporate polluters an easier path to curb emissions and scaling down ambitions for renewable energy to account for 22% of power generation by 2030 from 30% previously.

The coal plant near Butter Beach is expected to release more than 13 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year, according to climate activists. And at a cost of 4.9 trillion won ($3.8 billion), Korea could have added 2.9 gigawatts of solar power, or 1.8 gigawatts of onshore wind, with that money, according to calculations by BloombergNEF.

"I'm utterly at a loss for words, looking at where Korea's energy transition is headed," said Hong Jong-ho, a professor at Seoul National University Graduate School of Environment Studies.

The environment ministry has ordered the plant's operator to build groynes and breakwaters to avoid further coastal erosion. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho

South Korea's energy ministry declined to comment on the country's use of coal. Developer Samcheok Blue Power Co. did not respond to requests for comment. In a March prospectus the company said its coal plant will be equipped with "the highest level of environmental facilities in Korea to minimize pollutant emissions," and insisted the operation is required to provide energy security and help stabilize electricity prices.

The Samcheok operation will have a total capacity of 2.1 gigawatts, making it the country's seventh-biggest coal-fired plant.

Partnering with K-pop fans has already proven to be effective in augmenting its anti-coal message, said Korea Beyond Coal.

"Having the K-pop fans on board took the campaign to the next level because they belong to one of the biggest, most organized and fastest groups on the internet," said Bae Yeojin, a campaigner at the organization. "This was really the first time ever since we've attracted any global attention to a local matter."

Click here to continue reading the full version of this story as it appeared on Bloomberg.com.

0.6%

This is how much global coal-fired power generation ticked up by last year. It's a small increase, but nonetheless indicative of how the world is struggling to tame its appetite for the fossil fuel, according to BloombergNEF.

"The power sector is the most important [area] that you need to be seeing emissions reductions from this decade. That means that this is far more than a blip. This is a moment where governments have got to get serious."

Dave Jones

Lead analyst at the climate think tank Ember in London

Global coal power generation had a comeback last year as Russia's war in Ukraine upended supply chains for natural gas and electricity demand rose in key developing economies.

After a 2012 flood in Beijing killed 79 people, President Xi Jinping called for building "cities like sponges" and the country invested billions of dollars in the concept. The idea is simple: Using rooftop gardens, permeable pavements, underground storage tanks and other sponge-like features to soak up heavy precipitation and then slowly release it into rivers or reservoirs. Yet the climbing death toll from flooding in northern China this week has sounded the alarm of whether these tactics are fit for purpose as rising global temperatures supercharge more intense rainfall events. Worldwide it's becoming increasingly difficult for communities, from Vermont villages to London neighborhoods, to keep up with the fast changes in precipitation.

A partially submerged building in a flooded area in Beijing's Fangshan district on July 31. Source: CNS/AFP/Getty Images

Extreme heat borrows Covid playbook. Iran's declaration of a two-day public holiday over life-threatening heat, as temperatures in parts of the country are forecast to touch 50C (122F), is an eerie echo of restrictions enacted to protect citizens from the Covid-19 pandemic.

It's even hot where it's winter. Parts of Chile and Argentina have recently seen temperatures soar due to a combination of climate change and El Niño. The situation poses a threat to the snowpack in the Andes mountains that many farms and cities depend on during dry summers.

Scientists say they've spotted a huge leak. A natural gas well blowout in a remote region in Kazakhstan has triggered a huge release of methane, scientists say. Satellites observed giant clouds of methane spewing from the site at least nine times in the month leading up to July 23.

Researcher examines sunscreen and erosion link. Craig Downs' 2015 study linked chemical sunscreens to coral reef harm. Now he's investigating whether the product is toxic to plants that help stabilize dunes, and by extension, the shoreline.

Taking on climate change means giving serious thought to how we talk about and imagine it. This week Zero kicks off a series of conversations with climate storytellers. Novelist Kim Stanley Robinson joins Akshat Rathi to talk about how he crafts a good story out of a desperate situation, what he thinks the limits of climate storytelling are, and how his thinking has changed since publishing Ministry for the Future, a landmark "cli-fi" work. Listen to the full episode and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Google to get new episodes.

By Brian K. Sullivan

Red flag fire warnings are popping up across the US from central Texas to Oregon.

The warnings are issued when dry vegetation and gusty winds can rapidly spread any fires that get started. In addition, across the Pacific Northwest dry lighting storms — bolts that strike without rain — will sweep the region, potentially sparking multiple blazes straining fire fighting crews and equipment.

There are 67 large fires burning across the US, charring 388,245 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. New Mexico and Arizona have the most fires burning right now.

California is experiencing some unusual fire activity. The state's biggest fire this year is burning in the high desert, where plant coverage is sparse and the iconic Joshua Trees grow.

Joshua Trees burn during the York Fire in the Mojave National Preserve on July 30. Photographer: Ty O'Neil/AP Photo

Meanwhile across Canada, 1,036 fires are burning with 663 raging out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Since January 1, 5,127 fires have scorched 13.1 million hectares.

In other weather news:

China: The country is expected to see more extreme weather this month from typhoons to stifling heat as the nation reels from deadly floods after the heaviest rains to hit Beijing in more than a century.

Japan: Typhoon Khanun will begin its retrograde movement and take another run over Japan's southern islands. There appears to be a wide variety of places it could go after that including into western Japan.

Europe: Extreme heat is briefly giving way to cooler weather as heavy winds and thunderstorms from the north hit parts of central and western Europe over the next few days, before temperatures begin to soar again across Portugal and southern Spain next week.

US Midwest: Rain in the US's corn belt is bolstering crop prospects. Thunderstorms flaring across the middle Mississippi and lower Missouri Valleys have resulted in drought relief in some of the driest Midwestern areas, the USDA said in a Wednesday weather report.

--With assistance from David R. Baker