Open Energy

Author / David Walther, Postdoctoral Fellow, RSPRC

Data Analysis／Ga-Long Lee, Sustainable Finance Data Project Manager, RSPRC

Graphics / Heng Liu, Research Assistant, RSPRC

 I. Major countries’ commitments/re-implementation of science based target progress.

• Companies participating in SBTi have grown substantially on a global scale. As of April 19, 2021, the number of global participating SBTi companies has reached 1,346, an increase of 456 companies over the same period last year, and a growth rate of 51%.（SBTi，2021）
• Table 1 shows the participation of SBTi in different regions. This year, the Biden administration of the United States returned to the Paris Agreement, marking that the global industrial chain will move toward green energy and carbon neutrality more quickly. From January to April 19 of this year, SBTi companies around the world, participating companies grew by 34%, an increase of 339.
• On the intercontinental scale, the number of companies taking part and the increase of it are relatively significant in Europe and the European Union. In Asia, increases are mainly in Japan and India, while in North America, are mainly in the United States.

 

Figure 1, Status of participation of SBTi countries

 

Database Updating ...

 

Source: SBTi database, compiled by the research team.

 

 

Figure 2 Number of participating countries and changes in the number of major countries (increase in 2021)

Source: SBTi database, compiled by the research team.

 

II. Taiwan's top 30 sources of greenhouse gas emissions

• Looking at the top 30 greenhouse gas emission sources in Taiwan in 2019, we find emissions have improved little in the past four years, only -0.48% (Table 2 below).
• According to the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Law” (hereinafter referred to as the “Temperature Management Law”), our country’s long-term greenhouse gas reduction goal is: “The greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 will be reduced to less than 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions in 2005. According to the first phase of the Temperature Management Law (2016-2020), the goal is: Compared with 2005, our country’s emissions in 2020 will be reduced by 2%. However, the impact of the epidemic in 2020 may be close to reaching the goal (current official statistics have not yet been released) Next, Taiwan will enter the second phase of the "Temperature Management Law". The target (draft) is to reduce by 10% compared with the base year (2005) in 2025.
• According to the 2018 data released by the Environmental Protection Agency, the manufacturing sector accounts for 52.2% of the greenhouse gas; the fuel-burning carbon dioxide industrial sector accounts for 49.46%, both ranking first among the six major sectors (EPA, 2021a; 2021b).
• In addition, the top 30 greenhouse gas emission sources in 2018 are 133.21(MtCO2e), which means that the manufacturing sector accounts for 86.18%; this shows that the contribution of the manufacturing sector is quite significant. However, in the second phase control target (draft) of the " Temperature Management Law ", the reduction target of the manufacturing sector is only -0.22% compared with the base year (2005) (Environmental Protection Agency, 2021c). It appears that the government's reduction plan and the performance of companies reduction are not active enough, and it may be difficult to achieve the 2025 and 2030 carbon reduction targets.

 

Table 2 Taiwan’s top 30 greenhouse gas emission sources^{[Note 1]}
↗：means rising；↘：means falling； ─：means flat；↗↘：means fluctuations that rise first and then fall
Note: In case of mobile phones or tablets use, please switch to landscape mode.

22019 Rank	Company Name	Category	MtCO2e	2016-2019 Changes in emissions	Group
1	Formosa Petrochemical Corp	1700 Petroleum coal products	27.52	-0.92% ↘	Formosa
2	China Steel Corporation	241 Steel manufacturing	21.56	-1.17% ↘	China Steel
3	DRAGON STEEL CORPORATION	241 Steel manufacturing	9.04	-1.47% ↘	China Steel
4	Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation	184 Plastic Synthetic Rubber	8.33	-6.78% ↘	Formosa
5	Formosa Plastics	184 Plastic Synthetic Rubber	7.92	0.01% ↗	Formosa
6	CPC Corporation	1700 Petroleum coal products	7.73	1.57% ↗	Ministry of Economic Affairs,R.O.C
7	TSMC	2611 Integrated Circuit System	7.7	7% ↗	TSMC
8	NAN YA Plastic	184 Plastic Synthetic Rubber	5.87	-0.66% ↘	Formosa
9	Taiwan Cement Corporation	2331 Cement manufacturing	4.48	3.09% ↗	Taiwan Cement Corporation
10	Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd	184 Plastic Synthetic Rubber	3.33	4.72% ↗	Chang Chun group
11	Asia Cement Corporation	2331 Cement manufacturing	3.09	-3.3% ↘	Far Eastern group
12	Innolux Corporation	2641 LCD panel	3.00	1.21% ↗	Hon hai group
13	AU Optronics Corporation	2641 LCD panel	2.35	-2.54% ↘	BenQ-AUO Group
14	China Petrochemical Development Corporation	1850 Man-made fiber	1.91	-0.15% ↘	Core pacific Group
15	CHANG CHUN PLASTICS CO., LTD.	1841 Plastic raw materials	1.5	4.5% ↗	Chang Chun group
16	United Microelectronics Corp	2611 Integrated Circuit System	1.47	-2.83% ↘	United Microelectronic
17	Micron Technology, Inc	2611 Integrated Circuit System	1.35	3.79% ↗	Micron Technology, Inc
18	Cheng Loong Corporation	1512 Paper manufacturing	1.34	-3.07% ↘	Cheng Loong
19	DAIREN CHEMICAL CORPORATION	184 Plastic Synthetic Rubber	0.85	-18.31% ↘	Chang Chun group
20	Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corp.	241 Steel manufacturing	0.8	6.35% ↗	Tung Ho Steel
21	CHUNG HWA PULP CORP.	1511 Pulp Manufacturing	0.78	-1.84% ↘	Yong Feng Yu
22	TAIWAN GLASS	231 Glass and products	0.74	3.34% ↗	TAIWAN GLASS
23	VANGUARD INTERNATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR COR	2611 Integrated Circuit System	0.71	-0.25% ↘	TSMC GROUP
24	FENG HSIN STEEL CO., LTD	241 Steel manufacturing	0.71	-2.72% ↘	FENG HSIN STEEL GROUP
25	Far Eastern New Century Corporation	1112 Man-made fiber spinning	0.67	0.77% ↗	Far Eastern
26	Micron Memory Taiwan Co., Ltd.	2611 Integrated Circuit System	0.65	15.42% ↗	Micron Technology, Inc
27	LUCKY CEMENT CORPORATION	2331 Cement manufacturing	0.64	-2.44% ↘	LUCKY CEMENT CORPORATION
28	Chimei Corporation	184 Plastic Synthetic Rubber	0.64	-1.25% ↘	Chimei Corporation
29	Ruentex Materials Co.,Ltd.	2331 Cement manufacturing	0.64	-4.77% ↘	Ruentex
30	YIEH UNITED STEEL CORP	241 Steel manufacturing	0.60	-2.43% ↘	YIEH UNITED
	Total		127.92	-0.48% ↘

 Source: Environmental Protection Administration(2020), TEJ database, compiled by the research team. 

 

• Analyze the 30 major greenhouse gas emission sources that accounted for 86.18% of the manufacturing sector in 2019 (Table 2), 7 of which are in the electronics industry, and the remaining 23 are energy-intensive industries (the same as in 2019); of which 83% belong to the generalized petrochemical industry ( 51.28%), the steel industry (25.56%), and the cement industry (6.93%) (Figure 3); among them, the plastics industry (belonging to the petrochemical industry), the steel industry, and the cement industry are the transitional industries with net zero emissions (Energy Transitions Commission, 2018) . ^{[Note 2]}

• Although the electronics industry is a large part of carbon emissions (13.27%), its greenhouse gas intensity is low (that is, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions corresponding to each additional unit of GDP is low), and the main carbon emissions are from electricity consumption. Therefore, it can be greatly improved by improving the electricity emission coefficient; it is not an energy-intensive industry, and it is rarely classified as an industry project for the national net zero emission. In contrast, Taiwan’s top 30 sources of greenhouse gas emissions, such as the petrochemical, steel, and cement industries, require the direct combustion of fossil fuels in the process itself. This is an inevitable physical feature that can only be achieved by improving efficiency and capturing and reprocessing greenhouse gases. To use to achieve net zero emissions, the technical threshold is higher and requires greater incentives for transformation.
• According to recent and recent joint research with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the United States (Candelaria Bergero et al., 2021), simulations require a 50% reduction in domestic refining and a 30% reduction in naphtha production in the current non-nuclear homeland. Achieve net zero emissions. It is true that various Taiwan’s net zero emissions data will be different, but the current government’s carbon reduction targets have not seen positive actions aimed at the petrochemical and steel industry structural adjustments, and low-carbon transformation. The joint study (Candelaria Bergero et al., 2021) simulates that under the current non-nuclear homeland goals, domestic refining needs to be reduced by 50% and naphtha production by 30% in order to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It is true that various Taiwan’s net zero emissions data will be different, but the current government’s carbon reduction targets have not seen positive actions aimed at the petrochemical and steel industry structural adjustments, and low-carbon transformation.

 

 Figure 3 Distribution of the top 30 carbon emission industries in Taiwan

Source: Environmental Protection Administration(2020), TEJ database, compiled by the research team.

 

III. From 2016 to 2019, the emission reduction trend, GDP contribution and profit comparison of Taiwan's top ten greenhouse gas emission companies

• According to Figure 4 below, from 2016 to 2019, the top ten greenhouse gas emission companies in the past four years have not changed much.The top three growth rates are TSMC (7%), CCPG (4.72%), TCC (3.09%). As estimated in this series last year, CCPG replaced Innolux as the tenth place.
• It is worth noting that CCPG is a major supplier of specialty chemicals and electronic chemicals in Taiwan (Lin Yuanqing, 2021), high-value petrochemical products required for semiconductors, electric vehicles, and 5G communications. This is related to the current structure of Taiwan’s GDP growth led by the semiconductor and electronics industries. In 2020, semiconductor output will contribute more than 15% of Taiwan’s GDP; since 2012, Taiwan’s semiconductor equipment output has been growing for eight consecutive years. It is estimated that the output value of semiconductor equipment last year is expected to reach 65 billion yuan or more (Yang Shuqing, 2021).

 

Figure 4 Trending of greenhouse gas emissions of Taiwan's top ten greenhouse gas emissions from 2016 to 2019

Source:Environmental Protection Administration(2020), compiled by the research team.

 

• Figure 5 compares the GDP contributions of the three major industries in Taiwan’s carbon emissions.^{[Note 3]}Although the electronics industry's carbon emissions continue to grow, its greenhouse gas intensity continues to improve^{[Note 4]}By 2019, the electronics industry can produce 133.9 yuan per kilogram of carbon dioxide emissions, but the steel industry and petrochemical industry are 11.1 yuan and 15.8 yuan respectively.
• From the carbon emission trends and trend lines of the three industries in Figure 5 can be seen that the electronics industry will continue to increase GDP per kilogram of carbon emissions, that is, its greenhouse gas intensity will gradually decrease (become better). The steel industry has stagnated.^{[Note 5]}
• One of the key points for the transformation of the petrochemical industry is to develop a circular plastic economy, such as: re-examining the entire plastic value chain from product design to product final disposal system to ensure better coordination between plastic manufacturers and users, creating plastic products and processing processes , To achieve high-quality recycling; thereby reducing the demand for virgin plastic by 60% (Energy Transitions Commission, 2018). In addition, "decarbonized plastic production" must be adopted:
  • Carbon capture in storage or use
  • Conversion to low-carbon energy to generate heat (such as biomass, biogas or zero-carbon hydrogen),
  • Direct furnace electrification
  • Longer electrochemical process

 

Figure 5 Comparison of carbon productivity in electronics, petrochemical and steel industries

Source: Directo- General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. Bureau of Energy. Compiled by the research team.

 

IV. Global petrochemical, steel, electronics industry and Taiwan SBTi participation

• The petrochemical, steel, and electronics industries are the focus of Taiwan’s companies in reducing carbon emissions. Therefore, we specifically track the global commitments of these three types of industries. At present, a total of 60 petrochemical, steel and electronics industries around the world participate in SBTi. There are 37 companies in the global petrochemical industry (see Table 4), of which 15 are in Europe, 15 are in Asia, and 4 are in North America. There are 15 companies in the steel industry, 8 companies in Europe, 3 companies each in Asia and Latin America, and 1 company in Africa.
• The electronics industry includes the semiconductor and its equipment industry, technology hardware and equipment manufacturing, and the communications industry. There are 99 companies in the world. Asia has 40 companies, followed by 36 in Europe and 19 in North America.

 

Table 4, SBTi participation in the Petrochemical industry

Area／Nation	Number of Companies taking action	Committed	Target set
．North America	4	2	2
USA	4	2	2
．Asia	15	11	4
China	5	5
Japan	3	1	2
Indonesia	1	1
India	6	4	2
．Latin America	2	1	1
Brazil	1		1
Mexico	1	1
．Africa	1	1
Nigeria	1	1
．Europe	15	8	7
Denmark	3	2	1
Belgium	1	1
Spain	1		1
France	2	2
United Kingdom	2	2
Norway	2	1	1
Netherland	1		1
Swizerland	2		2
Germany	1		1
．Total	37	23	14

 Source: SBTi database

 

Table 5, Golbal SBTi participation in the Iron and Steel industry

Area／Nation	Number of Companies taking action	Committed	Target set
．Asia	3		3
India	3		3
．Latin America	3	3
Brazil	2	2
Chile	1	1
．Africa	1		1
South Africa	1		1
．Europe	8	5	3
France	2	1	1
Finland	1		1
Russia	1	1
Sweden	1		1
Germany	3	3
．Total	15	8	7

 Source: SBTi database

 

Table 6, Global SBTi participation in the Electronics industry

 Source: SBTi database

 

 

• A total of 31 companies from Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore have joined SBTi. A total of 17 companies in Taiwan participate in SBTi, leading 6 companies in South Korea and 8 companies in Singapore; among them, the electronics industry accounts for 12 companies, followed by the banking industry with 8 companies. Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore have only five energy-intensive or energy industries, including Singapore Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd (the group has a paper industry), Sembcorp Industries Limited (a power business), ComfortDelGro Transportation (ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited); Taiwan is Taiwan Cement and Asia Cement.
• It is worth noting that this year alone, 9 companies from these three countries have joined; in Taiwan, there are TPV Technology Co., Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry, Yushan Financial Holdings, Xinpu Technology Co., Ltd., and Dajiang Biomedical Co., Ltd. 5 This enterprise is the highest among the three countries.
• As for the petrochemical and steel industries in Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore, none of them have joined the SBTi. Although 128 companies in Japan have joined SBTi, there are only 3 petrochemicals, 3 transportation companies, and 1 power industry. It can be seen that, for the developed countries in East Asia, carbon neutrality or net zero emissions in energy-intensive industries seems to be more difficult than in Europe.

 

Table 7, Number of Companies taking action in SBTi participation in Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore

 

 

 

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