한국 재생 에너지 기술 개발의 초기 역사: 태양열 이용 기술을 중심으로

Abstract

The first oil-crisis in 1973 made the Korean government to pay attention to renewable energy. While the government planned to solve energy supply problem with increased production of coal and the introduction of nuclear energy, the technical development policy of solar energy was also initiated under the influence of energy policy in the industrialized nations. In 1978, the government announced “The Long-term Plan for the Development of Solar Energy,” the first integrated technical development plan for renewable energy. In the same year, the institute of solar energy was established as the first research institute of renewable energy in Korea. The technical development policy of solar energy to achieve goals of the long-term plan was implemented, as the second oil-crisis occurred. The solar house supply policy and research funding for solar heating system were put in practice as energy saving policy. As a result, technical niches of solar thermal energy were formed with the development of solar industries and research fields. However the quantitative goal oriented policy without any technological regulation resulted in the deployment of malfunctioning solar houses, which undermined the reliability of solar technology among consumers. The duration of low oil prices after 1981, the stabilization of energy supply based on coal, gas, and nuclear energy made the government reconsider the technical development policy of renewable energy. The development of solar thermal energy for energy savings seemed to be not urgent, and renewable energy technologies were defined as future energy. The absence of social movements on energy problems made reliability of solar energy to come into question. The recession of solar energy policy, the duration of low oil price and the stabilization of energy supply system with the resources of coal, gas, and nuclear energy hindered the expansion of technical niches and the formation of socio-technical regimes.