■ To participate in in CES 2022 held in Las Vegas, USA from Jan. 5 to 7, 2022

■ Embarking on reducing carbon by fostering new growth engine businesses and restructuring the existing businesses

– Aiming to decrease carbon by about 11 mil. tons per year, equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of 880,000 Koreans, by 2030

– The amount including 4.17 mil. tons from battery cells/separators, 1.36 M tons from battery recycle/BaaS, 5 mil. tons from plastic waste recycling, 500,000 tons from CCS, 10,000 tons from EV lubricants, etc.

SK Innovation will participate in CES 2022, which will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States, from January 5 to 7, 2022 (PST), and will reveal eco-friendly technology that will save 11 million tons of CO₂ per year.

Together with other companies of SK group, SK Innovation will emphasize the carbon reduction effect in this exhibition and displays revolutionary technologies to realize its “Carbon to Green” strategy. The whole concept of SK group’s exhibition at CES 2022 was previously revealed as a “Green Forest Pavilion,” with some main slogans and keywords such as as “SK, Your companion,” “Net Zero journey.”

It is estimated that through its innovative technologies, SK Innovation will be able save approximately 11 million tons of carbon per year by 2030. This amount includes 4.17 million tons from electric vehicles battery cells and separator manufacturing, 1.36 million tons from battery recycling and BaaS (Battery as a Service), 5 million tons from plastic waste recycling, 500,000 tons from Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), and 10,000 tons from lubricants for electric vehicles, among other things. Given that a single Korean person’s annual carbon footprint is approximately 12.5 tons, SK Innovation’s eco-friendly business can save a total amount equivalent to the carbon footprints of 880,000 Koreans each year.

At CES 2022, SK Innovation will display NCM9 battery cell, which is the flagship product of SK On, in the first zone of SK’s Green Forest Pavilion. NCM is the abbreviation of Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt, which are the three main materials of the battery, and number 9 indicates that this type of battery cell has the proportion of nickel up to nearly 90%. NCM9 is critical to the company’s decarbonization strategy for its outstanding performance. SK On is the first in the industry that has successfully developed the NCM9 battery based on its exclusively unrivaled safety technology and quality expertise. NCM9 will be installed in Ford’s F-150 Lightning. As reported earlier, it was selected as a CES 2022 Innovation Awards honoree in two categories: “In-Vehicle Entertainment & Safety”, and “Embedded Technologies.”

SK Innovation will also introduce the Lithium-ion Battery separator of SK IE Technology. Lithium-ion Battery Separator is a key material that determines the safety and performance of batteries. The core technology is to separate the anode and cathode to prevent fire while making it thin and strong so that ions can move freely. With its world’s first Sequential Stretching Technology and applying ceramic coating to make CCS (Ceramic Coated Separator), SK IE Technology ranked number one in global Tier-1 premium wet separator market in 2020.

SK Innovation will also disclose the technologies and solutions for a resource circular cycle such as battery reuse and recycling.

The BMR (Battery Metal Recycle) business operates by extracting key minerals from spent batteries. The extracted metals can be utilized to make batteries. For the first time in the world, SK Innovation developed a technology to extract lithium hydroxide from discarded batteries, with intentions to commercialize the technology by 2025. When lithium hydroxide is extracted from old batteries, it can reduce carbon emissions by 40% to 70% compared to extracting lithium from a mine or brine lake.

Besides, SK On’s AI-based battery diagnostic solution will be introduced. Through this solution, EV users can check the status of the battery to forecast its remaining life. The solution is the foundation for a variety of BaaS (Battery as a Service) project models that reuse and recycle discarded batteries.

SK Innovation will also exhibit EV lubricants manufactured by its subsidiary, SK Lubricants. SK Lubricants’ EV fluid is used in major parts of EV such as motors and gearboxes to cool them and block unnecessary electricity, thereby reducing energy loss and wear, improving machine efficiency to extend the mileage. SK Lubricants started developing EV Fluid in 2010, and it has been taking a leading position in the global market.

Visitors can also check SK Innovation’s commitments to carbon reduction in its existing oil-refinery and chemical businesses. These include the three primary technologies for recycling plastic wastes secured by SK Geo Centric, which are depolymerization, pyrolysis, and high purity Poly Propylene extraction, and Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) projects operated by SK Earthon in the East Sea and West Sea.

As demonstrated above, SK Innovation’s affiliates make every effort to cultivate new growth engines and green businesses revolving around battery and material, transforming from a traditional oil/chemical corporate into a “Green Energy & Materials Company.”

“We will accomplish the Carbon to Green strategy to reborn as an enterprise that gives a solution to the challenge of global warming, which is the epochal mission for all,” said Kim Jun, Vice Chairman of SK, CEO of SK Innovation.

[Photo]

(Photo 1) The first zone in The Green Forest Pavilion of SK at CES 2022

(Photo 2) SK Innovation’s NCM9 battery was selected as a CES 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree in two categories: “In-Vehicle Entertainment & Safety”, and “Embedded Technologies”