S. Korean gov’t, Hyundai Steel collaborate to turn livestock excrement into solid fuel

South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs and Hyundai Steel Co. have joined hands to use livestock excrements for producing solid fuel for making iron to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Last year, South Korea’s livestock excrement production reached 51.2 million tons as the number of livestock continued to increase.

Over 90 percent of this excrement is turned into manure or liquified fertilizer for farm use.

However, shrinking farmlands and heavier restrictions on compost spraying make excrement processing increasingly difficult.

Additionally, making and distributing compost generates ultrafine dust like ammonia and greenhouse gases, threatening the environment.

More than 21 million tons of compost made of cow excrement are being used annually, generating over 2,728,000 tCO2-eq of greenhouse gas.