Samsung reports high emissions despite using renewable energy

Samsung Electronics' annual sustainability report has revealed that the company generated higher greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 than the previous year. The report states that Samsung's greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 5% over last year, releasing 3.2 tons of CO2e every 100 million won in revenue, owing to expansion of the company's semiconductor production line and product output.

Apparently, Samsung has failed to meet its 2020 emissions target of 1.55 tons of CO2e for every 100 million won, which is a 70% decrease from 5.17 tons of CO2e per 100 million won in 2008. While acknowledging its increase in emissions, Samsung mentioned that its plants in China, Europe, and the United States are now entirely run by renewable energy.

The smartphone maker also stated that it has established agreements with renewable energy providers in Brazil and Mexico, and that by 2025, it expects to use only renewable energy in these countries.

Despite this move, Greenpeace claimed Samsung needed to do more because its factories in China, Europe, and the United States only accounted for lower than 20% of the industry's overall energy output.

As per Greenpeace, renewable energy constituted 17.6% of Samsung's overall energy mix. Greenpeace issued its report on the same day, stating that Samsung uses fossil fuels for 82 percent of its power demands.

To address this, Greenpeace advised that Samsung implement changes to its energy use in South Korea and Vietnam, which account for approximately 80% of the electronics maker's energy use.

However, Samsung stated in its audit reports that it collected 510,000 tons of e-waste in 2020, which is 30,000 tons more than in 2019. It also lowered its average water usage by 4,953 tons per day in 2020 and reused 70,181 thousand tons of water, a boost of 1.2 percent over 2019. However, Samsung did not reveal how much water it consumes daily in the report.

Source Credit - https://www.zdnet.com/article/samsung-carbon-emissions-rise-despite-shift-to-100-renewable-energy-in-china-europe-and-the-us/