The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) launched the Carbon Neutrality Grand Consortium on September 5, which aims to share across all industry sectors the outcomes of the KRW 41 billion carbon neutrality technology development project launched earlier this year.

The Carbon Neutrality Grand Consortium is centered on the sub-consortiums of four sectors, namely steel petrochemicals, semiconductor/display and cement, including not only the firms participating in the carbon neutrality technology development, but also those that are not participating, in order to accelerate the exchange and spread of carbon neutrality technologies and successful outcomes across all sectors to promote a mutually cooperative system, a first of this kind of attempt in Korea.

POSCO (steel), LG Chem (petrochemicals), SsangYong (cement) and Wonik Materials (semiconductors) were among the companies that attended the Carbon Neutrality Grand Consortium launching ceremony held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, where they signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) together with the sub-consortiums.

MOTIE’s Vice Minister Youngjin Jang stated that the prospect of carbon neutrality achievement by industry sectors depends on the development of an innovative technology that enables groundbreaking carbon reductions in manufacturing processes without disrupting productivity, while also pursuing solidarity and cooperation with other firms to spread the breakthrough technology across the entire industrial ecosystem. He also emphasized that the roles of the Carbon Neutrality Grand Consortium and its supporting sub-consortiums are very important in this respect.

The Korean government will be assisting companies’ on-the-spot, on-site utilization of development outcomes by pouring over 80 percent of the total project budget into demonstration projects by 2030, and make sure that companies gain practical help through additional designations of new growth technologies and source technologies, as well as tax benefits, loan support, regulatory improvement and international joint research projects.