POSCO Actively Practices ESG Management by Introducing 'Carbon-Neutral LNG'

Import of 64,000 Tons of Carbon-Neutral LNG from Germany's RWE
Carbon Reduction Effect of 35,000 Tons... Practicing Social Responsibility through ESG Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO is actively practicing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management by introducing 'carbon-neutral LNG.'

POSCO announced on the 29th that it will introduce 64,000 tons of 'carbon-neutral LNG.' The carbon-neutral LNG introduced this time offsets approximately 35,000 tons of carbon dioxide generated during the LNG production and supply process. The 35,000 tons is equivalent to the amount of carbon absorbed annually by 5.3 million 30-year-old pine trees and is comparable to the carbon emissions reduction from about 15,000 passenger cars per year.

Carbon-neutral LNG refers to green gas whose carbon emissions generated from the development, production, and supply of natural gas to users are offset to zero by carbon credits (carbon reduction amounts) obtained through afforestation projects, renewable energy businesses, and conservation activities in protected areas.

As part of actively participating in global carbon reduction, POSCO plans to prioritize purchasing carbon-reduced products even for externally procured raw materials, not just its own manufactured products. Accordingly, POSCO International’s Singapore trading corporation recently purchased one cargo (about 64,000 tons) of carbon-neutral LNG from RWE, a German gas supply company. The carbon-neutral LNG, which departed from Australia and arrived at POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks LNG terminal on the 19th, will be used for factory operations and power supply within POSCO’s steelworks in the future.

LNG, when used as an energy source, emits about half the greenhouse gases compared to coal and only about 10% of the fine dust emissions, making it an eco-friendly energy alternative to coal. However, carbon is still generated during the production and supply process of LNG. Carbon-neutral LNG incurs additional costs for offsetting carbon emissions, and since trading is not yet active, the total global trading volume has been only nine cargos so far.

POSCO began negotiations with RWE to introduce carbon-neutral LNG to realize the '2050 Carbon Neutrality' declared last December while actively practicing ESG management, and agreed to receive one cargo initially. POSCO’s introduction of carbon-neutral LNG is the second case in Korea since GS Energy in July 2019 and the tenth case worldwide.

POSCO’s purchase of carbon-neutral LNG is meaningful in that it was promoted to contribute to global carbon neutrality despite not being applicable as a domestic carbon reduction achievement. POSCO expects that if the domestic carbon credit trading system improves to link carbon-neutral LNG introduction with carbon reduction achievements, it will be able to expand its introduction further.

Meanwhile, POSCO has established the 2050 carbon neutrality goal and is promoting energy efficiency improvements and substitution with economically viable low-carbon raw materials as the first phase of execution plans to achieve this goal.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.