Kim Sung-woo

On the 27th of last month, the International Institute for Environment and Development released heat-wave data in 20 large cities around the world. Not surprisingly for those who are in Seoul now, the data showed that Seoul has seen the sharpest increase in the number of heat wave days in the past 30 years. The number increased four times faster than Tokyo. This is why the city, which used to have four distinct seasons throughout the year, is now becoming more tropical than ever.

For those of you who are in Seoul now, think about the past few nights. If you ever woke up in the middle of night, I bet it probably took at least a few minutes of patience to fall back to sleep after turning on — or lowering further down the target temperature of — your air conditioner. A fan will not do a quick fix. At such a moment, imagine your air conditioner stays silent even after you pushed the power button. Isn’t it a nightmare?

This is why in Korea, the country with the eighth-highest electricity consumption in the world, we have extra multiple power plants on standby these days. We want to be able to ensure seamless electricity supply even when a number of energy consumers rush to their air conditioners to cool down their bedrooms, offices, libraries and shopping malls. The issue is, the cities where the electricity is consumed are significantly different from those cities where the electricity is generated. Most power plants are located........

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