Korean companies face dilemma over joining RE100 initiative
Korea’s largest conglomerates appear to be facing difficulties in their commitment to obtain energy solely from renewable sources, amid the shortage of solar, wind and other cleaner energy options, according to industry officials, Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jonghee asked reporters to “wait a little more,” in response to their questions about when the tech firm will join the RE100 campaign, a global initiative of businesses committed to making the move to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2050.
“It seems that we will make a large declaration,” he said Tuesday.
Samsung Electronics has already begun running its factories in the U.S. and Europe on clean energy.
The company reportedly informed the presidential transition committee in April of its intention to join the RE100 campaign, but it has yet to make any official declaration regarding the matter, despite demands to join the initiative from APG and global institutional investors, as well as its clients, such as Apple and Google.
On the other hand, SK hynix joined RE100 in 2020 and Hyundai Motor followed suit this year.
However, they have also been generating controversy for considering power generation through liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a less pollutive alternative.
Environmental activists here and overseas, including members of the Climate Group which leads the RE100 campaign, have expressed concerns about Hyundai Motor’s plan to build an LNG-fired power plant near its Ulsan factory.
The activists described its continuous use of fossil fuels as “greenwashing,” or deceptive marketing to make the company appear eco-friendly when in fact it is not.
As the Climate Group hinted at the possible nullification of Hyundai Motor’s RE100 membership, the carmaker explained that it will phase out LNG gradually to switch to power generation with hydrogen.
SK hynix has constructed LNGfired power plants in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, and Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, sparking a backlash from residents and activists.
The chipmaker has claimed that its power plants will minimize the pollution.
Against this backdrop, some domestic energy experts raised questions about the feasibility of joining the RE100 campaign for Korean companies.
“What is important for us is Zero
Carbon Energy 100 (ZC100), not RE100,” said Yoo Seung-hoon, a professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology’s Department of Energy Policy. “RE100 is one of the methods for achieving the goal of carbon neutrality, not the goal itself.”
According to Yoo, ZC100 refers to efforts to eliminate carbon emissions from power generation through various technologies, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), rather than only using renewable energy sources.