Samsung Electronics announced a new environmental management strategy on the 15th. With the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, the company has established a management strategy and announced plans to invest more than 7 trillion won by 2030 in ultra-low-power semiconductors and product development, as well as new technology development to improve process gas processing efficiency, drawing attention to future changes.

Samsung Electronics announced its ‘New Environmental Management Strategy’ and announced that it will shift its management paradigm to eco-friendly management. Key issues include: △Reducing process gas, △Collecting and recycling waste electronic products, △Conserving water resources, and △Minimizing pollutants, and will invest a total of 7 trillion won or more in these environmental management tasks by 2030. This figure excludes the costs required to achieve the renewable energy target.

■ Notice of expansion of process gas reduction facilities

Samsung Electronics plans to focus its investment on carbon emission reduction facilities that apply innovative technologies to reduce direct carbon emissions (Scope 1) generated at its business sites.

Currently, the carbon directly emitted by Samsung Electronics is mainly due to process gases generated during the semiconductor manufacturing process and the use of fuels such as LNG. Samsung Electronics plans to develop new technologies that will significantly improve process gas processing efficiency and expand processing facilities on its lines by 2030.

The etching gas used in the semiconductor process uses a lot of non-decomposable gases that cause global warming. Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are essential in the cleaning and etching processes during the semiconductor process. With this announcement, the development of alternative gases and expansion of reduction devices are expected, and the supply of gas scrubbers that process harmful gases generated in the semiconductor and display production processes is expected to follow.

Some predicted that Unisem, which produces and supplies gas scrubbers and chillers, would benefit from this. Unisem, which is evaluated to have a high market share of related equipment within Samsung in line with the ESG reinforcement trend, is said to be supplying scrubbers and chillers to the Pyeongtaek Plant 3. In addition, there has been a move by CSK to hire personnel related to scrubber equipment for Samsung and SK Hynix, and its competitor Global Standard Technology (GST) has also been detected to be establishing a new corporation to strengthen its response to Samsung's new foundry fab scheduled to break ground in Taylor, USA.

Meanwhile, as Samsung Electronics prepares to reduce the use of LNG boilers by expanding the use of waste heat and reviewing the introduction of electric heat sources, changes in related LNG demand are also expected.

■ Accelerating the development of ultra-low power semiconductors and power saving products

Samsung Electronics announced that it plans to significantly reduce the power consumption of memory used in data centers and mobile devices by 2025 by securing ultra-low power technology in semiconductors.

Semiconductor process miniaturization and advancement of low-power design technology can not only contribute to reducing greenhouse gases by reducing power consumption in various IT products and data centers, but also make it possible to produce products with the same performance using fewer raw materials.

In terms of products, the company plans to apply low-power technology to representative models of seven major electronic products, including smartphones, TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, PCs, and monitors, and improve power consumption by an average of 30% in 2030 compared to models with the same performance in 2019.

Samsung Electronics plans to achieve this goal by developing energy-saving technologies through applying high-efficiency components (compressors, heat exchangers, semiconductors) and improving product operation algorithms, such as introducing AI-saving modes.

■ Keynote for expanding renewable energy

Samsung Electronics' electricity usage last year was 25.8TWh, the highest among global IT manufacturers. This is 1.76 times the total household electricity usage in Seoul. To reduce indirect carbon emissions (Scope 2) resulting from such electricity usage, Samsung Electronics joined the global initiative RE100 and is preparing to convert its electricity usage to renewable energy by 2050.

△Southwest Asia and Vietnam plan to achieve their renewable energy goals by 2022, △Central and South America by 2025, and △Southeast Asia, CIS, and Africa by 2027. Meanwhile, the US, China, and Europe, which have already achieved their renewable energy goals, have decided to expand renewable energy supply agreements (PPAs) signed directly with renewable energy power generation companies. The DX sector is pursuing the achievement of renewable energy goals by 2027 both domestically and internationally.

Despite these efforts, the domestic renewable energy supply is woefully inadequate compared to other countries. According to Korea Electric Power Statistics, the domestic renewable energy power generation ratio is 7.5% as of 2021, which is a significant difference from the OECD average of 30%. The annual report 'RE100 2020' also included Korea among the 10 countries where it is difficult to transition to renewable energy.

Despite the difficulties in procuring renewable energy, Samsung is seeking strategies to expand the use of renewable energy in response to the carbon reduction trend. Samsung Electronics announced that it plans to strengthen cooperation with various stakeholders, including similar industries and civil society, rather than remaining in its role as a corporate energy purchaser.

■ Resource recycling must be considered

Samsung Electronics is working to maximize the use of water resources in order to strengthen the resource circulation of its business sites. In particular, it is pursuing ‘zero increase in water intake’ at its domestic semiconductor business sites.

Due to the expansion of semiconductor production lines, the daily water demand at semiconductor plants will more than double from the current level by 2030. However, Samsung Electronics has decided to freeze the amount at the 2021 level by maximizing water reuse.

The DX division also plans to expand water reuse by upgrading water treatment facilities, and by 2030, return 100% of the water used to society through global water resource exploration projects, water quality improvement, and river restoration projects.

The DS division minimizes the air and water pollutants it emits. It has set a goal of applying new technologies to remove air and water pollutants emitted during the semiconductor production process and discharging them in a “natural state” with minimal impact on the environment starting from 2040.

Samsung Electronics plans to treat and discharge discharged water into clean water equivalent to that of the upper reaches of rivers and discharge air into clean air equivalent to that of the national target by developing and applying new treatment technologies.

He also said that he would focus his capabilities on developing carbon capture and utilization technology to solve the carbon emission problem and reduction technology to solve the fine dust problem, which is becoming a headache for the global environment. The company plans to apply carbon capture technology to semiconductor manufacturing facilities after 2030 and then expand its application to the entire company and its partners.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics is also making investments to discover promising eco-friendly technologies and foster and support startups in the field. It plans to cooperate in solving global environmental problems by supporting the commercialization and distribution of innovative technologies with the technology innovation community. C-Lab, an internal and external venture fostering program, is also actively discovering and supporting eco-friendly projects.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO Jong-hee Han emphasized, “Overcoming the climate crisis and building a circular economy are the greatest challenges of our time that require the participation of businesses, governments, and citizens,” and “Samsung Electronics will play a catalytic role in accelerating the establishment of an eco-friendly ecosystem across the entire value chain through innovative technologies and products.”