Contributing to a Carbon Neutral Society
Providing Products That Contribute to a Low-Carbon Society
Among the SMM Group’s products, we position those products that contribute to reducing GHG
emissions as low-carbon products, and the Group places the highest priority on contributing to reducing
GHG emissions throughout society by developing these products and expanding business.
Our current target is to contribute to a reduction in GHG emissions of at least 600,000 tons
through low-carbon products by 2030. The GHG reduction contribution in FY 2023 was 567,000 tons.
We will continue to actively develop technology for new processes for lithium-ion phosphate
(LFP) cathode materials and materials relating to hydrogen manufacture while we expand business
for existing low-carbon products.
Realizing a Stable Supply of Non-Ferrous Metal Resources
The main mineral resources for renewable energy, which is a major trend in realizing a carbon neutral
society, and used in the electrification of EVs and other vehicles are shown in the table on the
following page. We provide many of these materials.
The exact metal usage per vehicle increases as electrification advances, with copper requiring
3.6 times the weight equivalent of a gasoline-powered vehicle. We believe that meeting the growing
demand for such materials is an important role that our Groupshould fulfill.
| System and Fundamental Technology | Main Metal Resources Required1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Renewable energy sector | Power generation and batteries | Wind power generation | Copper, aluminum, rare earths |
| Solar power generation | Indium, gallium, selenium, copper | ||
| Geothermal power generation | Titanium | ||
| Large-capacity storage batteries | Vanadium, lithium, cobalt, manganese, copper | ||
| Automobile sector | Batteries, motors, etc. | Lithium-ion batteries | Lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper |
| Solid-state batteries | Lithium, nickel, manganese, copper | ||
| High-performance magnets | Rare earths | ||
| Fuel cells (electrodes, catalysts) | Platinum, nickel, rare earths (scandium) | ||
| Hydrogen tanks | Titanium, niobium, zinc, magnesium, vanadium | ||
- 1Materials highlighted in blue are produced by the Group
■ Metal Used per Vehicle (kg)
- Source: The Agency for Natural Resources and Energy’s Mineral Resources Policy for Achieving Carbon Neutrality in 2050
Green Metal Concept Using a Mass-Balance Approach
Regarding the SMM Group’s electrolytic copper, we plan to secure a third-party guarantee of the validity of our carbon footprint (CFP) calculations and chain of custody (CoC) and obtain certification so that we can provide low GHG emissions electrolytic copper (green copper) using a mass-balance method.1 In FY2024, we plan to investigate obtaining a third-party guarantee of our CFP calculations for other metals as well.
- 1An approach allocating certain characteristics to a portion of a product to be produced in accordance with the input ratios of raw materials with certain characteristics in cases where materials with different characteristics are used in combination
■ Schematic Diagram of the Mass-Balance Approach1
- 1Diagram prepared by making reference to the following source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “Enabling a Circular Economy for Chemicals with the Mass Balance Approach”
