Automotive giant GM announced today that it plans to achieve its goal to source 100% renewable energy to power its U.S. sites by 2025, five years of its prior 2030 target, and significantly ahead of its initial 2050 goal, first set in 2016. The company also announced that it will deploy a carbon-emissions tracking system at its facilities, enabling it to optimize its use of clean energy.
GM’s 2030 renewable energy goal was set early this year, as part of a set of commitments which also included targets to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, and an aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035.
The company outlined the key pillars of its renewable energy strategy, which in addition to sourcing renewables also includes initiatives to increase energy efficiency, advocate for policies supporting carbon-free, resilient power systems, and addressing intermittency by creating technology to store renewable energy over the medium and long term.
For its new carbon tracking initiative, GM is partnering with regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection and technology-enabled energy company TimberRock to launch a system that will enable energy consumption decisions to be made based on the carbon output of the grid at a given time. For example, at times when the power being supplied is from fossil-fuel based sources, the company can choose to use stored renewable-based energy or reduce its power consumption.
GM stated that it aims to expand the initiative to include carbon emissions associated with customers’ electric vehicles, enabling the company to decide where to invest renewable energy efforts to achieve the greatest impact beyond its own operations.
GM Chief Sustainability Officer Kristen Siemen said:
“We know climate action is a priority and every company must push itself to decarbonize further and faster. That’s what we are doing by aiming to achieve 100 percent renewable energy five years earlier in the U.S. as we continue to advance on our commitment to lead an all-electric, carbon-neutral future.”
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