GM Finalizes Energy Sourcing to Meet Early Goal
DETROIT – General Motors announced it has finalized its sourcing agreements to secure its future of powering all of its U.S. facilities by 2025.
The announcement meets the expectations of the September 2021 target, but comes several years ahead of GM’s previous targets.
The portfolio has now grown to include sourcing agreements from 16 renewable energy plants across 10 states and has produced over $75 million of positive cash flows since 2017.
“We believe it is critical — to ourselves, to our customers and to the future of the planet — to step up our efforts and reach ambitious targets that move us closer to a more sustainable world,” said Kristen Siemen, GM chief sustainability officer. “Securing the renewable energy we need to achieve our goal demonstrates tangible progress in reducing our emissions in all aspects of our business, ultimately moving us closer to our vision of a future with zero emissions.”
With the accelerated goal being achieved, GM said it expects to substantially reduce the estimated carbon emissions it would have produced between 2025 and 2030. The emissions saved are projected to amount to about a million metric tons of carbon emissions – an amount equivalent to burning a billion pounds of coal, the company said.
Additionally, GM said there are “four pillars” to its renewable energy strategy – increasing energy efficiency, sourcing renewables, addressing intermittency and policy advocacy.
Along with those goals, GM has been a member of the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) since 2019. The CEBA is the largest group of corporate renewable energy buyers in the U.S. helping organizations find cost-effective strategies for adopting renewable energy.
“General Motors has been a trailblazer in corporate clean energy procurement for manufacturing facilities for over a decade,” said Miranda Ballentine, CEO of the CEBA. “Today’s announcement of securing the energy needed to achieve their 2025 goal is another example of their leadership. But even more impressive has been GM’s commitment to sharing their earnings and guiding other corporations who want to follow their lead. In a world of high competition, this community-orientation is truly wonderful.”
GM said it will invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025 and has further plans to reach more than a million units of annual EV capacity in both China and North America at the end of that same year. Additionally, the company plans to become entirely carbon neutral by 2040.
Source: General Motors
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
