Samsung, UL certified as a landfill for semiconductors
Hyundai Motor Company, 44 eco-friendly car models… Sales target of 1 million units per year
SK achieves RE100 in 2050… Oil and gas affiliates take steps to produce hydrogen
LG to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2050, promote waste recycling economy
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Despite the rapid changes in the global business environment after the pandemic, there is a clear trend that cannot be countered. It is a corporate social responsibility called ESG (environmental, social and governance). This global mega trend is not only a pressure and risk that must be carried out in order to become a company, but also a promising future food opportunity.
In particular,’environment’ is becoming the standard and top priority of business activities as it fits with the’Green New Deal’, the economic stimulus plan of each country, which tries to raise the collapsed economy after the pandemic. The European Union (EU), which is leading the response to global climate change, has announced strong regulations such as imposing a carbon border tax and banning the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines through the Green Deal Act. Although the business environment has become difficult, the scale of investment in related markets is expected to continue to increase due to the green deal. It is calculated that investment in ESG can eventually increase the sustainability of a company.
For example, Larry Pink, the CEO of Black Rock, the world’s largest asset management company, at the beginning of the year, wrote in an annual letter to the chief executives of major global companies that investment decisions should be based on sustainability and climate change risks, that is, ESG factors. I have suggested.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Environment on the 1st, in order to meet the National Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target (NDC) proposed by the government, industry and other sectors should further reduce their carbon emissions by 24.4% by 2030. The target emission is 536.6 million tons, which is a figure that requires a diet of about 225 million tons or more than the 79.7 million tons produced in 2017. From then on, by 2050, a’carbon neutral’ mission that matches carbon emissions and corresponding absorptions must be completed.
In Korea, it is easy to achieve carbon neutrality in the industrial sector because the manufacturing sector has a higher share of the manufacturing industry (GDP) of 28.4% (as of 2019) compared to other countries, and the major industries such as steel and petrochemical are carbon-rich industries. It is not a situation. Nevertheless, as carbon neutrality emerges as the global new economic order, the government believes that it must approach the future survival problem and secure an edge.
This is the reason why companies are reinforcing ESG activities without mind. The attention is focused on the four major domestic groups, including Samsung, Hyundai Motors, SK, and LG. Participating in’RE100′, which produces 100% of the power required to produce products from renewable energy such as solar and wind power, or development, production, and distribution of electric and hydrogen vehicles to replace existing non-environmental products such as internal combustion engines. It is the key. Most of companies’ watches are preparing a roadmap with the year 2025, which is in line with global environmental regulations.
Samsung Electronics, the No. 1 company, has already entered the countdown to achieve’RE100′ by its US and European offices. Currently, global companies such as Apple and Google are clarifying guidelines such as that they will do business with companies that have subscribed to RE100, and are being pointed out as essential elements for global management in the long term.
Samsung Electronics received the’Water Footprint’ certification from Carbon Trust, a certification body created by the British government to respond to climate change in September. It is an evaluation that the use of water has been minimized over the past three years and water management has been adequately managed. Efforts to reduce waste are also recognized. All semiconductor business sites at home and abroad of Samsung Electronics have been recognized as’Zero Waste Landfill’ by UL, an international environmental and safety organization. The zero waste landfill certification is graded according to the rate of recycling waste as a resource, and all eight of Samsung Electronics’ eight business sites received a gold rating of 95% or more.
Samsung C&T declared coal-free and decided to stop all new investments and businesses related to coal. In the future, it is planning to discover businesses focusing on new and renewable energy such as wind power and solar power. Samsung Heavy Industries is also accelerating by developing a fuel propulsion technology for eco-friendly ships using ammonia as fuel.
The transport sector, along with industry and development, is one of the most important areas for meeting national carbon emission targets. Leading the board is Hyundai Motor Group, which is rapidly replacing internal combustion locomotives with electric and hydrogen vehicles. By 2025, the group decided to operate 44 eco-friendly car models, including 11 electric car models. It aims to sell 1 million units per year in the global market. The production system for hydrogen electric vehicles is expected to be 500,000 units per year by 2030. Already the 4th place in the global market share of electric vehicles, and the hydrogen electric vehicle is showing the overwhelming world’s No. 1 sales volume with’Nexo’.
The first domestic automobile industry to introduce a cogeneration system in the Ulsan plant to replace the existing diesel emergency generator, and the Asan plant is equipped with solar power generation facilities. Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors have also been selected as’Carbon Management Honors Club’ by the’Carbon Information Disclosure Project’, a global environmental management certification body.
To speed up, Hyundai Motor Company decided to invest 60 trillion won over five years on research and development and facility investment. In addition to simply switching to electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles, it also contains information about making large-scale investments such as building infrastructure in partnership with local governments and business partners to transform the hydrogen economy ecosystem. In addition to automobiles, it continues to exert its influence on the overall industry, such as allowing hydrogen to be used in construction machinery, ships, and drones.
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SK, the largest energy group in Korea, promised to achieve RE100 by 2050 for the first time in Korea. SK Corp., SK Telecom, SK Hynix, SKC, SK Siltron, SK Materials, SK Broadband, and SK IE Technology. Since most of them are materials and parts companies, it is considered essential for business with global companies.
Energy affiliates, such as oil and gas, pointed to hydrogen as the next-generation food and started developing it. It is expected to play a role in the production sector in the hydrogen economy by rapidly establishing a production capacity of 280,000 tons per year. This includes SK E&S, a city gas company within the group, and SK Innovation, a refinery and chemical company. In particular, SK Innovation is conducting a demonstration project of a system that can generate electricity and hydrogen from carbon dioxide, especially with UNIST.
It directly runs power generation projects or plays a role in building infrastructure. SK E&S was selected as a business operator to build a photovoltaic power generation complex the size of Yeouido, Seoul, on the Saemangeum reclamation site, and SK Chemicals is taking global eco-friendly material production as its core business. SK E&C also completed the construction of a hydrogen fuel cell power plant in Hwaseong and Paju, Gyeonggi Province, which generates electricity by reacting hydrogen and oxygen.
Global company LG is also pursuing to achieve’RE100′. LG Electronics aims to reduce carbon emissions by 50% compared to 2017 by 2030. Finally, a carbon neutral plan was announced. LG Electronics is contributing to national carbon neutrality by continuously developing and releasing home appliances that can increase energy efficiency.
LG Chem’s Energy Storage System (ESS) is also one of the projects essential to the government’s energy conversion and carbon neutral policy. It is a device that will compensate for the intermittent nature of solar and wind power generation, and it can be viewed as a huge battery that can be stored when electricity is not needed and can be taken out when needed. As LG Chem’s world-leading battery is supplied to most of the global automakers, it has emerged as one of the key drivers of global eco-friendly vehicles.
In particular, LG is building a’circulation economy system’ that recycles batteries, products and waste. It is a view that the virtuous cycle of waste plastics, which is a serious problem in society, such as eco-friendly plastics and biodegradable plastic materials, can be achieved through technology development. Currently, LG Chem has already achieved its policy to introduce RE100 to all business sites around the world in the US and Europe.
In order to induce companies to reduce carbon, the government allocates carbon credits according to the nature of the business and, if exceeded, buys credits from other companies and replenishes them or imposes a fine. Carbon credits remained at around 7,000 won per ton at the beginning of opening in 2015, but they are on a wide jump, rising from the average of the second half of 20,000 won to 40,000 won. One of the backgrounds of large companies’ carbon diet is that enormous environmental costs are emerging as a risk to disrupt business activities.
Professor Ho-geun Lee of Daedeok University said, “Even electric vehicles, the view that climate warming can be prevented by considering the total amount of carbon in the entire process from raw materials is leading to RE100.” “Carbon reduction efforts are now an investment for survival.” Professor Lee said, “The awareness that’the environment prioritizes human rights’ will grow.” “If companies do not prepare in advance, they will not only face enormous carbon taxes and fines, but also lose their competitiveness. It is absolutely necessary.”
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