The plan is to raise the proportion of pure electric vehicle sales, which was 17% last year, to over 50% by 2030. We are actively using recycled materials and renewable energy in the vehicle design and production processes to continuously promote carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction.
Taiwan's global semiconductor company TSMC has signed a massive power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy gigawatt (GW) level power generated from offshore wind farms. I hope to see innovative cases of corporations utilizing renewable energy like this in Korea.
The decarbonization trend in the global shipping and port industry is accelerating rapidly. Efforts and considerations are being made to establish fuel infrastructure using methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen not only for ships powered by clean energy but also in ports where these ships operate.
At the '2025 Asia-Pacific (APAC) Renewable Energy Matching Forum' held at BEXCO in Busan on the 26th, strategies and current responses from domestic and international industries to achieve carbon neutrality were discussed thoroughly. As decarbonization accelerates across the global supply chain, including automotive, semiconductor, and shipping industries, the trend of increasing procurement of renewable energy is also noted.
Government and corporate officials attending the forum projected that the trend of decarbonizing the supply chain will continue and they formed a consensus on the importance of enhancing accessibility to renewable energy. In particular, they noted that it is essential to strengthen connections between demand corporations needing renewable energy, such as RE100 (100% renewable energy usage), and power generation companies, developers, and suppliers to further activate the market.
Lee Kyung-soo, the head of the Energy Policy Division at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "Carbon neutrality (net zero, zero carbon emissions) is a megatrend driving global leadership, and it is a flow that can no longer be resisted," adding, "To achieve this, the utilization of renewable energy is essential. The energy used in all areas of society, including industry and transportation, will transition to be centered on clean energy power."
In fact, the German automobile company BMW is steadily expanding pure electric vehicle sales while also focusing on carbon reduction in the vehicle design and production processes. For electric vehicles, this includes increasing the recycling rates of parts and raw materials with high carbon emissions, such as batteries, aluminum, and steel. BMW aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 40% compared to 2019 by 2030.
The world's largest semiconductor foundry company TSMC has been signing large-scale PPA contracts with offshore wind operators. Recently, it has moved the target date for achieving RE100 forward by a decade from 2050 to 2040, stating its intention to cover 60% of its power needs with renewable energy by 2030.
In the shipping industry, there is a growing need for environmentally friendly ships and port investments as decarbonization regulations become stricter. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), part of the United Nations (UN), plans to impose a so-called "carbon tax" on ships that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases starting in 2028, leading to ongoing pressure on domestic corporations to replace their vessels.
With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the IT industry is also deeply concerned about increased power consumption and decarbonization. Lina Arizumi, Google's APAC energy policy lead, noted, "Google is leading the '24/7 Carbon Free Energy' campaign, which uses only electricity generated from 100% carbon-free energy (CFE) 24 hours a day," adding, "Given that power usage has continued to increase since 2010, we had no choice but to utilize renewable energy to achieve carbon reduction."
Last year, Google signed a renewable energy supply contract for 75 MW in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, India, and Australia, for use in its data centers and offices operating in those regions. It also receives solar power generated from parking lots and golf courses and sometimes utilizes geothermal energy.