General Motors announced today that it will power all of its U.S. facilities with 100% renewable energy five years earlier than planned. Back in 2016, the automotive manufacturer committed to 100% renewable energy by 2050. Earlier this year, it advanced the date to 2030. This latest development nudges the date up again, this time to 2025. By accelerating its renewable energy goal, GM will avoid an estimated one million metric tons of carbon emissions between 2025 and 2030.
GM was able to expedite its decarbonization timeline due to a successful four-pillared approach:
To monitor its progress, GM is partnering with PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization, and TimberRock, a technology-enabled energy company, to track the real-time carbon emissions at GM’s facilities.
The partnership allows GM to make strategic decisions about its electricity use, for instance tapping into its battery storage capacity to power operations or reducing consumption when the power grid’s fuel mix is fossil fuel–heavy.
GM also plans to become carbon neutral in its global products and operations by 2040, aligned with its aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035. To this end, it is investing $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles and plans to introduce more than 30 electric vehicle models globally by 2025.