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Aug 27, 16:40
Driving measurable sustainability: CIDB Malaysia's blueprint for carbon accountability
At Sustainability Environment Asia Conference 2026, Suhaimi Mansor, deputy chief executive of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia, delivered a clear mandate for the nation's built environment: sustainability must transition from simple assessment to measurable, lifecycle-wide performance across buildings and infrastructure.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 26 declaring a national emergency over the security of America's electrical grid. It restricts the purchase, import, and installation of certain foreign-made "bulk-power system" equipment on cybersecurity and national-security grounds.
South Korea and the United States are at odds over which reactor design to build — and who runs the project — in the nuclear power component of Seoul's US investment package, according to industry sources cited by Korean outlet Edaily.
Star Trade, a unit of HD Renewable Energy, is set to debut at Semicon Taiwan 2026 next week, offering power trading and energy management services for semiconductor and AI infrastructure. The move underscores how global chipmaking and data center growth is increasing pressure on grids, renewable integration, and electricity pricing.
The Taiwan-based National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), supported by top scientists including Nobel chemistry laureate Yuan-tseh Lee, held a celebration event on August 25 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Taiwan Photon Source (TPS).
Taiwan's circular economy has entered a new stage as the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said the sector's output has surpassed NT$1 trillion (US$31.4 billion), while calling for AI and related technologies to help narrow the pay and working-conditions gap with the semiconductor industry. The ministry made the remarks on August 25 at a joint press conference for the 2026 Taiwan Circular Economy Week with the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of the Interior, and the Public Construction Commission.
Eva Air and AIT Worldwide Logistics have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a green transport program that will use sustainable aviation fuel from Formosa Petrochemical for Microsoft cloud equipment shipments. The Taiwan-based collaboration is expected to reduce Microsoft's Scope 3 emissions by 15,000 tonnes in its first year.
AI data centers will increasingly rely on energy storage because of its fast response and grid impact mitigation capabilities, according to Recharge Power, a Taiwan-based battery energy storage system integrator (BESSI) which has seen overseas project revenue gradually bearing fruit. In Taiwan, the energy storage market has also received a major boost following amendments to the Energy Administration Act requiring heavy users to strengthen their electricity self-sufficiency.

Samsung SDI said it will sell about one-third of its stake in Samsung Display for KRW4.45 trillion (US$3.2 billion), converting part of its affiliate holding into cash as it prepares to invest in future battery businesses.

Global artificial intelligence infrastructure buildouts and rising capex by cloud service providers pushed Taiwan's July export orders for information and communications technology (ICT) products, led by AI servers, up nearly 90% year-over-year, while export orders for foundry and memory also rose by more than 70%. However, companies in advanced economies are encountering power shortages as they invest in AI infrastructure, exposing a bottleneck that highlights the need to develop AI computing and net-zero technologies in tandem.

Inergy Technology said strong demand for AI server cooling and power management pushed the share of server-related applications to 47% of revenue in the second quarter of 2026, with shipments of system-on-chip (SoC) cooling fan driver ICs set to ramp up in the second half of 2026 and battery backup unit (BBU) demand expected to keep rising as AI moves toward high-voltage direct current power architectures.

Navigating volatile US tariff policies, escalating geopolitical tensions, and a productivity revolution driven by agentic AI, Taiwan's industrial sector has reached a decisive crossroads.