LG Electronics has pledged to transition completely to renewable energy by 2050 as a key component of its sustainability strategy.
The announcement formed part of the new LG Electronics Sustainability Report and comes on top of the company’s earlier promise to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 through the Zero Carbon 2030 initiative, in which LG pledged to reduce carbon emissions in the production stage to 50% of 2017 standards by 2030.
Plans for implementation
The transformation will be implemented region by region starting in North America where every office and manufacturing site will be powered by renewable energy within the year. LG manufacturing facilities outside of Korea are on target to convert 50% of their electricity needs to renewable energy in the next four years.
LG said that achieving this objective globally will require “a diverse strategy”, including installing high-efficiency LG solar panels on its buildings, utilising power purchase agreements that allow companies to purchase electricity directly from suppliers, using Renewable Energy Credit certificates and participating in the Green Premium programme in Korea, LG’s home market, to purchase clean energy directly from the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco).
Currently, LG is installing solar modules with a capacity of 3.2MW on a manufacturing site in Noida, India, generating electricity to power LG’s administrative office as well. This project will be expanded as a part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), allowing LG to secure carbon reduction certificates from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“Our commitment to creating a better life for all can best be actualised by LG transition to renewable energy and achieving carbon neutrality,” said Park Pyung-gu, senior vice president at LG Electronics safety and environment division.
“In today’s world, innovation doesn’t just happen in the lab, they must also happen in our factories and plants. Today’s manufacturers have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give the next generation a world worth inheriting and at LG, we take this responsibility very seriously,” Pyung-gu concluded.
