Hyundai Motor fuel cell truck XCIENT / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor
Hyundai Motor fuel cell truck XCIENT / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor


By Kim Hyun-bin

The government aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, with plans to invest 12 trillion won into related industries and policies next year as the first step.

In order to back up the government’s initiatives, several major conglomerates are set to update their investment plans for hydrogen-centric businesses this week, according to company officials, Sunday.

Top-tier companies including Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group and Lotte Group have formed an alliance to launch a “hydrogen council” aimed at cutting carbon emissions. The official launch ceremony, to be held on Sept. 8, will be attended by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin.

The council will be officially launched Wednesday, following the H2 Business Summit held on the sidelines of the H2 Mobility + Energy Show 2021 at KINTEX Convention Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

Hyundai Motor will play a central role in the upcoming show, as it plans to host the “Hydrogen Wave” event to specify the key hydrogen-related technologies, strategies and next-generation fuel cell systems that have evolved under the firm over the last 23 years. Hyundai Motor was the world’s first to commercialize fuel cell vehicles in 2013, and it aims to produce 500,000 vehicles annually by 2030.

POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, Doosan Chairman Park Jeong-won, Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, Hanwha Group heir Kim Dong-kwan and senior executives at GS Caltex and Kolon are set to participate in the event, according to the companies.
From a policy standpoint, Korea recently passed a bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent by 2030 under the Climate Crisis Response Act, becoming the 14th country to pass such a legislation. Reducing emissions to net zero has emerged as a global agenda to fight climate change since the Paris climate accord went into effect in 2016. Korea aims to go carbon-free by 2050 by transforming the country’s fossil fuel economy to an eco-friendly one. The EU and the U.S. vowed to go carbon neutral by 2050 and China by 2060.

According to a Goldman Sachs report last year, the global hydrogen market is predicted to reach $12 trillion by 2050, which is the reason why local conglomerates are starting to invest heavily in the field.

On a related note, SK said it will invest 18.5 trillion won into hydrogen-centric businesses, aiming to create a hydrogen value chain from production, distribution to consumption by 2025.

POSCO aims to generate 30 trillion won in sales from the hydrogen-focused business by 2050 with the country’s steel giant planning to produce 5 million tons of hydrogen by 2050.



‘Hydrogen council’ to be launched this week
Source: Buhay Kapa PH