A man rides a bike rented through the Seoul city government’s public bike service, Ttaereungyi, on a road in central Seoul on Nov. 20, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that it will utilize the city’s public bike service to secure greenhouse gas emissions allowances, making it the first project of its kind in the country.
The city plans to register its unmanned bike rental service, known as Ttaereungyi in Korean, on the Ministry of Environment’s Offset Registry System (ORS) as an “external project” for engaging in greenhouse gas emissions allowance transactions.
By leveraging the eco-friendly transportation provided by the bicycle sharing service, the city will register the reduced greenhouse gas emissions resulting from bike usage.
Any excess emissions allowances will be sold to businesses obligated to purchase corresponding reductions.
Last December, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority registered the method on the ORS, establishing a basis for estimating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions reductions resulting from the use of public bicycles.
The emissions reduction will be measured by calculating the fuel saved through bike riding instead of driving a car, in addition to considering carbon emission factors.
Starting this month, external consulting sessions will be held to estimate gas reduction and emissions by businesses, as well as to handle other administrative procedures for selling greenhouse gas emissions allowances on the market next year.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
