Today, Samsung made a commitment to switch to using 100 percent renewable energy for all its operations located in the US, China, and across Europe by 2020.

This pledge by Samsung includes all of its factories, office buildings and operational facilities in those territories. As part of this move to go green, Samsung joined the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF's) Renewable Energy Buyers' Principles and the Rocky Mountain Institute's Business Renewables Center. Both aim to help businesses gain access to renewable energy sources by engaging directly with suppliers and utilities.

At home in South Korea, Samsung is taking a different approach. The country is aiming to increase its renewable energy use by 20 percent by 2030. Samsung will help it get there by installing 42,000 square meters of solar panels on its Digital City headquarters in Suwon. Next year, a further 21,000 square meters of solar panels will be added to Samsung's Pyeongtaek campus alongside investment in geothermal power generation. The Hwaseong campus will also receive similar green energy upgrades in 2020.

Samsung relies on hundreds of other companies to help bring its products to market, and so this commitment is also extending to them. Working with the Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain Program, Samsung will focus on its top 100 partners and help them to also set their own renewable targets.

Ultimately, it means we could see Samsung products appearing that are developed and manufactured only by using renewable energy. That's still probably a decade away, but at least the company is heading in the right direction.