A worker drives a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle at Kumho Petrochemical's Ulsan plant in Ulsan City on Nov. 16. Courtesy of Kumho Petrochemical

By Kim Jae-heun

Kumho Petrochemical will convert all of its corporate vehicles to eco-friendly cars by 2030, the refiner said Thursday.

The transition is part of the Korean-type pollution-free vehicle conversion 100 (K-EV100) program, a green initiative organized by the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Automobile Environment Association to change all vehicles owned or leased by private firms to pollution-free cars. The goal is to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases and air pollutants by increasing the proportion of eco-friendly vehicles such as electric cars.

Kumho Petrochemical has been preparing to adopt K-EV100 at its Ulsan plant first by test-operating hydrogen fuel cell vehicles there since 2020. The company's environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) committee will expand the number of pollution-free corporate vehicles and set up charging stations at all workplaces by 2030. It plans to operate some 60 eco-friendly cars by then.

"I think it is very meaningful to join the K-EV100 to achieve the carbon neutrality goal. Kumho Petrochemical will continue to actively engage in ESG activities," Kumho Petrochemical Chairman Park Chan-koo said.

The company's CEO Baek Jong-hoon added, "All businesses (within the group) will continue to work together to implement a strategy to accelerate carbon emission reduction through clean energy conversion with the firm's K-EV100 declaration."

Meanwhile, Kumho Petrochemical revealed its carbon-neutral growth plan earlier this year. The company said it aims to achieve ultimate carbon-neutral growth by 2050, using 2035 as the first year of carbon-neutral growth, when annual carbon emission cuts are expected to exceed emission increases.