Green energy research is surging – and South Korea is a leading light

The window of opportunity to mitigate the effects of global warming is narrowing. Given that fossil fuels cause most carbon dioxide emissions, transitioning towards sustainable energy systems is at the heart of this mission. Green energy technologies are gradually growing their share of the global energy mix — around 29% of the world’s electricity is now generated from renewable sources¹ — but time is of the essence.

“The longer emissions reductions are delayed, the fewer effective adaptation options,” notes the United Nations’ Climate Change 2023 synthesis report² .

The fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine adds geopolitical urgency to the need for a green energy transition. In retaliation to sanctions, Russia has reduced its natural gas supply to Europe, leading to persistent energy price inflation and concerns about future energy security.

The green energy research landscape

Against this backdrop, green energy development has become a critical area of research, reflected in a more than 10-fold increase in related publications from 2010 (1,105) to 2023 (11,346), according to Digital Science’s Dimensions database. Researchers around the world are striving to improve green energy technology and society’s ability to harness renewable energy sources more efficiently.

According to data analysed by Nature Navigator, which uses artificial intelligence to generate comprehensive summaries of research topics, ‘renewable energy systems and technologies’ is the field’s most frequently mentioned subtopic (Fig.1). At a research concept level, wind power generation, grid optimization and resource management all feature as common underlying themes.

Of the primary green energy research subtopics presented by Nature Navigator, it is telling that ‘materials for energy storage and conversion’ is the fastest growing, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.2% over the last five years. This may reflect a growing consensus among researchers and industry that a lack of options to efficiently store electricity generated by intermittent renewable sources for later use is a key bottleneck preventing the greater penetration of these sources into the grid.

Platforms such as Nature Navigator can offer valuable and digestible insights into global research trends. This was the case for Changmo Sung, a prominent green energy researcher at Korea University’s Green Graduate School. Sung used Nature Navigator to identify emerging trends, key research areas and potential breakthroughs in the field of heat pump technology to inform a collaborative project with LG Electronics’ Air Solution Division.

“It also enabled the rapid discovery of researchers and institutions outside South Korea working on similar or complementary projects related to heat pumps,” Sung says.

South Korea: A major player in green energy research

Like many countries, South Korea’s commitment to expanding the share of renewable energy sources has been mixed, at the policy level. Recognizing that Europe’s energy crisis could affect import prices, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy has called on South Korea to expand its domestic renewable share as soon as possible.

In January 2023, the government of South Korea released its biennial master plan for electricity supply and demand, targeting a renewable energy share of 21.6% by 2030. The plan has been widely criticised for its lack of ambition, with this target being scaled back from the 30.2% target South Korea pledged in its nationally determined contribution in 2021 under the Paris Agreement. In addition, the target aligned with the country’s renewable portfolio standard was postponed by four years from 2026 to 2030.

However, it is notable that large South Korean corporate buyers such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Company have recently committed to procuring 100% of their electricity needs from renewable energy.

South Korea ranks sixth globally for green energy research output, behind China, the United States, India, the United Kingdom and Germany. Between 2014 and 2023, South Korea has recorded a 22.2% publication CAGR in this research area, with growth in citation volumes increasing from 774 to 14,803. The country contributes to more than 3% of the global publication output for green energy research.

From the most-cited literature, lithium battery power and energy storage emerge as a research focus. A 2017 article in Chemical Society Reviews investigated energy storage systems, advocating for the use of sodium-ion batteries as an alternative to lithiumion batteries due to their wide availability and similar chemistry3 . Concerns around the sustainability of lithium sources and consequent price volatility have prompted calls to find long-term replacements and enable the continued transition to zero-emission electric vehicles, the authors added.

South Korea’s academic institutions sit within a broader group of Asian research organizations that are driving the surge of green energy research, comprising 8 of the top 10 positions by output and led by Anna University in Chennai, India. The highest ranked research institute in South Korea, Seoul National University, sits 38th globally.

There is evidence that South Korea takes advantage of its position in a leading region for green energy research. The country has a large footprint when it comes to collaboration, partnering with institutions from more than 75 countries. Seven of South Korea’s top 10 collaborating countries are located in the Asia-Pacific region (Fig. 2). India is South Korea’s leading collaborator for green energy research, with more than 13% of the collaboration share. Combined with the United States and China, these three countries account for almost a third of South Korea’s green energy research collaboration.

With a long list of potential research partners in a highly active global field, it can be a challenge to narrow down the options. For Sung, Nature Navigator helped to simplify this process and allow decisions to be made within an accurate global context.

“This information can be crucial for researchers in South Korea to make informed decisions about research priorities, resource allocation and strategic partnerships,” he says. “These tools cover all major disciplines and regions of the world, allowing institutions to gain insights into different fields and potentially identify interdisciplinary research opportunities.”