Hyundai Heavy Industry Group’s three affiliates specializing in construction equipment (Hyundai Genuine, Hyundai Construction Equipment, and Hyundai Doosan Infracore) have set a plan to attain carbon neutrality in all of their workplaces both in and outside Korea by 2050.
Hyundai Genuine (Holding company in the Construction Equipment sector) and Hyundai CE announced their plans to attain said goal by 2050 at their headquarters in Ulsan, Korea and all workplaces in China, India, etc., following Hyundai Doosan Infracore, which announced a similar plan earlier.
Recently, Hyundai CE presented a mid/long-term roadmap for coping with climate change, including how to execute the goal of carbon neutrality and its eco-friendly product strategy.
Hyundai CE plans to reduce its annual carbon emissions by 42% from the 2021 level by 2030 and by 71% by 2040 and attain its carbon neutrality goal by 2050 based on the SBTi (Science Based Target initiative) 1.5℃ Scenario.*
For said goal, Hyundai CE will improve the work process in all its factories in the home country and in foreign countries like China, India, and Brazil to enhance production efficiency and push forward with the fuel switch to renewable energy.
As for its domestic factories in Ulsan, Gunsan, etc., it plans to work fully under the goal of RE100 (a global initiative bringing together the world’s most influential businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity) by 2025 through private power generation and PPA (Power Purchase Agreements). In the case of its Ulsan factory as one of its leading factories, it plans to install rooftop PV facilities with capacity of 2 MWp (refers to the rated power output of solar power systems that would be achieved under ideal conditions) to meet its energy need on its own.
Hyundai CE also plans to shift to eco-friendly operation to reduce carbon emissions associated with the use of products. It will have the sales of eco-friendly products account for 83% of its entire sales by 2030 and 97% by 2040 through the reshuffling of the portfolio focusing on electric battery, hydrogen fuel cell, hybrid power, and products adopting fuel-efficient technologies.
To that end, Hyundai CE will introduce power platform-based second-generation equipment by 2023 and build the lineup of mini power excavators by 2026. The 14-ton hydrogen wheel excavator, which it developed ahead of rivals worldwide, will start to be produced in large quantities beginning 2026.
“Carbon neutrality is a promise that we make to the succeeding generations to build a better future. We will invest KRW 200 billion to make the Ulsan factory an eco-friendly one, and it will be the first step taken by us to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality,” Hyundai CE President Choi Cheol-gon said.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Genuine India, an intermediary holding company in the construction equipment sector of the HHI Group, plans to sophisticate the workplace energy management system by establishing a strategy for coping with climate change starting this year and attain carbon neutrality for itself by 2050 through the purchase of renewable energy and the like. In a similar step taken earlier, Hyundai Doosan Infracore announced carbon neutrality for all its workplaces in November 2021 as the first step taken of its kind by a Korean construction equipment manufacturer.