In recent months, the German government has been trying to find alternative ways to save its heavy industry from the impact of high energy prices, which have hindered Germany's progress towards its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2045. High energy prices have led to a shift in production to Asia. For example, last year, chemical giant BASF announced it would invest £10 billion in a new plant in China due to energy costs. In response, the German government will launch a £200 billion Climate Transition Fund to invest in green technologies and subsidize projects affected by the ban on new gas boilers next year. However, some power plants have had to restart to cope with reduced Russian gas supplies, allowing some coal-fired plants to receive subsidies. Meanwhile, Germany is opposing EU proposals on climate and other environmental requirements. The German automotive industry has successfully mitigated the EU's ban on gasoline and diesel vehicles from 2035 by allowing internal combustion engines to use synthetic "e-fuels" made from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. How did Germany, Europe's most ambitious nation on net-zero emissions, become a laggard? For years, Germany relied heavily on cheap Russian gas and struggled with renewable energy. Despite the impact of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Germany still shut down three nuclear power plants ahead of schedule in early 2021. However, with energy prices currently high and wind and solar power unable to provide sufficiently cheap and reliable energy to replace all fossil fuels, the inevitable result will be that more and more German industrial production capacity will be transferred to South Asia.

With 462 stores in 62 cities worldwide, the renowned furniture chain IKEA officially entered its 80th year and opened its North Asia headquarters in Taipei for the first time on the 12th. The office features extensive, home-style public spaces, focus rooms for employees to unleash their creativity, and thoughtful automatic height-adjustable desks, showcasing IKEA's commitment to human capital and sustainability. During the event, IKEA reiterated its global commitment to becoming climate positive and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. Adrian Worth, Managing Director of IKEA North Asia, shared its business strategy in Taiwan. (Photo by Liu Youjun) IKEA acknowledges the high cost of sustainable products, focusing on volume and price to create a win-win situation. IKEA invited Adrian Worth, Managing Director of IKEA North Asia, to share its business strategy in Taiwan and engage in a Q&A session with media on various aspects, including environmental sustainability, humanistic care, and employee well-being. IKEA asked the media: Between "low price" and "sustainability," what do IKEA's decision-makers choose? 88% of the media professionals at the scene chose sustainability. Adolf Ellis was surprised by this result because in order for IKEA products to compete with similar products in the market, the design must be based on "price". However, he also believes that good design is a combination of form, function, quality, sustainable development and affordable prices for everyone, which is "democratic design". IKEA believes that good furniture is designed for everyone. Therefore, sustainability

A total of 22 climate action groups, including Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, Fight for the Future, and Green America, are pressuring the US Senate to demand that tech companies disclose the carbon emissions impact of generative artificial intelligence systems and are calling for legislation forcing companies to increase transparency. These climate action groups hope to ensure that the development of AI technology does not undermine efforts to combat climate change. The climate action groups point out that the widespread use of large language models will increase carbon emissions. They are calling on Congress to enact legislation requiring tech companies to disclose energy usage and carbon emissions data throughout the lifecycle of AI models and to hold tech companies and their executives legally accountable for the environmental damage caused by the use of generative AI. The climate action groups point out that the energy consumption of training AI models is staggering, and that carbon emissions from data centers are increasing. Tech giants such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, and SAP have long failed to fully disclose carbon emissions data, especially given the massive energy demands of AI training. The climate action groups emphasize that AI models could exacerbate the spread of climate change misinformation and hinder climate action. Therefore, they called on the government to include the sustainable development of AI technology in its regulation to reduce the impact of the evolution of AI technology on the environment. Source: QUARTZ

On September 12, Apple announced significant progress in decarbonizing its global supply chain. Over 300 manufacturers have pledged to use 100% clean energy in Apple production lines by 2030, including over 50 suppliers in the United States, Europe, and Asia who have joined Apple's Supplier Clean Energy Program. Currently, the program covers 90% of Apple's global production lines, contributing to its goal of carbon neutrality for all products by 2030. Apple's global operations have been carbon neutral since 2020, and the company has set a goal of reducing its overall carbon emissions by 75% by 2030. Since 2015, Apple has been actively working with its global suppliers to address electricity emissions from Apple production lines, with 100% clean energy being a key strategy to achieve this goal. Suppliers who have committed to Apple's Supplier Clean Energy Program come from 28 countries and regions worldwide, including Skyworks Solutions, Analog Devices, and Cirrus Logic in the United States, Renesas Electronics in Japan, Sappi Limited, LeMur and Schoeller Textil AG in Europe, and suppliers in South Korea and China. Apple continues to track its suppliers’ Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions and works closely with them to achieve their goal of carbon neutrality for their production lines by 2030. As of 2022, the use of renewable energy has helped Apple avoid 17.4 million tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to 1.5 million tons of CO2 emissions per year.

To achieve its green energy development goals, the United States has been actively exploring and extracting more lithium in recent years. This metal is an essential raw material for the development of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and is also considered a key element in the manufacture of electric vehicles and in reducing global transportation carbon emissions. According to PBS, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, passed by Congress in August 2022, promises increased subsidies for electric vehicles, contributing to the growing demand for electric vehicles in the United States. However, the current lithium supply shortage in the United States threatens to hinder the development and transition to electric vehicles in the country. However, this situation could change. CBS News reports that the Salton Sea, an inland saltwater lake in California, contains significant lithium deposits. EnergySource Minerals and General Motors, a multinational automotive company, have plans to mine lithium in the area. CBS News also believes that lithium mining in California’s Salton Sea is like the California Gold Rush from 1848 to 1855.

There are currently over 8,000 data centers worldwide, and with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), this number will continue to expand. Research estimates that by 2025, the IT industry will account for 20% of electricity consumption and approximately 5.5% of global carbon emissions. This raises a realistic and increasingly pressing question: how should the industry's carbon footprint be addressed? In 2019, researchers at the University of Massachusetts trained several large language models and found that training a single AI model can emit the equivalent of the lifetime emissions of five cars. Furthermore, a recent study by Google and UC Berkeley reported that training GPT-3 results in 552 metric tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to driving a passenger car for 2 million kilometers. OpenAI's latest generation model, GPT-4, has approximately 570 times the computing parameters of GPT-3. As AI becomes more powerful and widespread, the scale of these systems will only grow. The International Energy Agency (IEA) indicates that global data center energy use increased by only 6% between 2010 and 2018, despite a 550% increase in workloads and compute instances. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that the large-scale deployment of AI and faster computing will eventually reduce the demand for global data clouds. Not only that, AI will turn your laptop, car or other device into an energy-efficient supercomputer. OpenAI's Sam Al

As economies and industries transition to a decarbonized world, the use of low-carbon fuels is expected to play a key role. Thomas Evans, executive advisor at GHD (Gutteridge Haskins & Davey), stated that a growing number of countries are considering building their own hydrogen capabilities and strategies to achieve net zero targets, and are attempting to assess the costs and infrastructure required for hydrogen projects. He further explained, "Every country with decarbonization goals needs to make room for hydrogen in its energy mix, as demand for hydrogen-related services and strategies will increase." As economies and industries transition to a low-carbon world, hydrogen, which can be produced from renewable energy and natural gas, is expected to become a key fuel. Hydrogen comes in various forms, including blue, green, and grey. Both blue and grey hydrogen are produced from natural gas, while green hydrogen is produced through the electrolysis of water molecules. French investment bank Natixis estimates that hydrogen investment will exceed $300 billion by 2030. Last September (2022), the UAE signed an agreement with GHD and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to develop its hydrogen strategy. The UAE aims to produce 1.4 million tons of hydrogen per year by 2031 and 15 million tons per year by 2050. Thomas Evans pointed out that the UAE has competitively priced blue hydrogen, which makes blue hydrogen and green hydrogen plus all natural resources

Toyota Motor Europe launched Toyota Open Labs on August 29, 2023, to integrate startups into the Toyota ecosystem, drive innovation, and strengthen Toyota's expertise and capabilities in energy, circular economy, carbon neutrality, smart communities, and accessible mobility, thereby driving Toyota's transformation. Toyota Open Labs will solicit proposals from startups across five key themes: energy (including hydrogen economy, energy management, and smart charging), circular economy (vehicle and battery recycling technologies and systems), carbon neutrality (carbon reduction technologies, transparent and data-driven product lifecycle assessment solutions), smart communities (car sharing, vehicle subscription services, and transportation hubs), and accessible mobility (overcoming mobility barriers in an aging society and equitable mobility solutions). Selected startups will receive guidance from mentors and advisors to improve their products, explore investment opportunities, and optimize their operational strategies. In addition to collaborating with Toyota on proof-of-concept projects and entering the market through Toyota, these startups will also be invited to showcase their technology at a conference at the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Source: Toyota Europe News Center

The Japanese government plans to invest more than 2 trillion yen (approximately NT$437 billion) to promote green transformation and promote national and industrial decarbonization. According to the latest remarks of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the relevant budget for the next fiscal year will exceed 1.2 trillion yen (approximately NT$260 billion). The Japanese Cabinet Office also pointed out that the reason for the huge investment in green transformation is that green transformation will have a huge impact on Japan's economy in the next 50 years. The relevant budget will be used to develop hydrogen and solar energy supply chains to accelerate energy transformation. Over the next five years, the Japanese government will also invest 200 billion yen (approximately NT$43.7 billion) to cultivate new startups related to green transformation, 190 billion yen (approximately NT$41.5 billion) to guide small and medium-sized enterprises in energy conservation and carbon reduction, and 150 billion yen (approximately NT$32.7 billion) to develop next-generation nuclear power generation technology. Information source: nippon.com

In May 2023, the French Energy Company (French Energy Company, Française de l’Énergie, FDE) accidentally discovered a large natural hydrogen deposit while inspecting methane risks in abandoned mines in the Lorraine region of northeastern France. Although the deposit's size cannot be confirmed due to lack of exploration, local geological research institutes believe it may be the largest natural hydrogen deposit discovered in Europe to date. Natural hydrogen mining has a relatively recent history. Tesla founder Elon Musk stated at the 2022 Future of Vehicles Summit that hydrogen production is almost entirely artificial, stating, "It doesn't occur naturally on Earth, so you either produce it by electrolysis of water or by cracking hydrides." However, countries such as Australia, the United States, and Europe have expressed interest in natural hydrogen mining. Successful extraction of natural hydrogen in France could have a significant impact on Europe's energy transition. The discovery of hydrogen deposits in the Lorraine region of northeastern France presents new possibilities for Europe's energy transition. Image source: LtDrogo (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Low carbon and low price make natural hydrogen a rising star. Hydrogen itself is a colorless transparent gas, but it has different names depending on the production process. "Green hydrogen" is hydrogen produced by electrolyzing water with renewable energy electricity. It has low carbon emissions and high costs. "Gray hydrogen" is produced through steam reforming and is the most common hydrogen. "Blue hydrogen" uses carbon capture to store carbon dioxide emitted by other hydrogen production processes. "Pink hydrogen" uses nuclear power. And "white hydrogen" refers to natural hydrogen. "Euractiv" reported

To support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in reducing their energy bills and achieving decarbonization, the UK government has launched a new Business Climate Hub. Established jointly by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), National Grid, and NatWest, the Hub aims to provide a one-stop shop for the UK's approximately 5.5 million SMEs, helping them find advice on reducing their carbon footprint and saving energy bills. SMEs account for approximately 99.2% of all businesses in the UK, three-fifths of employment, and approximately 50% of turnover, making them crucial to the journey towards net zero emissions. Compared to larger businesses, SMEs have fewer resources and investment capital, and therefore face significant challenges in achieving net zero decarbonization goals. Therefore, the Hub provides resources and advice on cost-effective climate strategies, carbon credits, operating grants, green loans, sustainability training, waste reduction, and matching green suppliers. A free carbon emissions estimation tool is also available to help SMEs measure and track their emissions. In addition, the study found that 90% of SMEs are keen to respond to climate change, but found