JAKARTA — South Korean automobile giant Hyundai has ended an agreement with Adaro Minerals, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s second-largest coal miner, PT Adaro Energy, to procure aluminum for its electric vehicle (EV) production. Hyundai and Adaro Minerals signed the agreement in November 2022, and at the end of 2023, both agreed not to renew the agreement and “to explore other opportunities independently,” Hyundai said in a statement. The decision came on the heels of campaigns by K-pop fans who urged Hyundai to back out of the agreement and to avoid sourcing aluminum from Adaro since it will be produced using coal power. Upon signing the agreement, Hyundai described the aluminum as “green and low-carbon” because it would be produced using hydroelectric power. This, Hyundai said, would “accelerate” the transition to sustainable energy and help the company meet its net-zero emissions goal by 2045. However, Adaro would only start producing aluminum using hydroelectric power in 2030. Before that, Adaro will build 2.2 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants to power its aluminum smelter in an industrial park, itself branded as “green,” in Indonesia’s North Kalimantan province. The aluminum smelter and the industrial park, touted as the largest of its kind in the world, are a part of Indonesia’s bid to become a global production hub for EVs. Since the smelter will rely on coal during at least the first five years of its operation, any purchase of aluminum from the company will be a violation of Hyundai’s Carbon Neutrality Principles. Those principles require…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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