GM to Power US Production Sites with 100% RE by 2025

General Motors (GM) has revealed that it plans to source 100 percent renewable energy to power its U.S. sites by 2025 – five years earlier than previously announced, and 25 years ahead of its initial target that was set in 2016.

GM aims to avoid 1 million metric tons of carbon emissions that would have been produced between 2025 and 2030.

Earlier this year, GM announced its Science Based Targets, as well as plans to become carbon neutral in its global products and operations by 2040 aligned with the aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035. The company has committed to invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles and plans to introduce more than 30 electric vehicle models globally by 2025.

In addition, GM Thursday said that it is collaborating 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 associated with electricity use.

GM’s goal of sourcing only renewable energy for its global operations, however, remains unchanged at 2035. Rival Ford Motor Co. has said that it’s on track to source all renewable energy for its manufacturing plants globally by 2035 but has not broken down that down into a U.S. goal. Toyota Motor, another competitor, moved up its target year for attaining net-zero carbon emissions among group factories to 2035 from the previous deadline of 2050 in June this year. Clearly, if these companies can commit to net-zero emissions by 2035, so can several other major corporations which are still sticking to the mid-century deadline.

Then there are some which make no commitments whatsoever. Tesla, for instance, is reputed for clean energy and manufacturing only electric vehicles, but unlike Ford and GM—two of Tesla’s fiercest American competitors — the company does not disclose the exact numerical figures of its carbon emissions, which are rather shown in graphs in its reports. Details like Scope 1 or Scope 2 emissions or the percentage of operations that these graphs cover are not made available. The company has also failed to commit to any carbon targets. One can only hope that GM’s latest news will encourage other industry players to make serious commitments towards significant emission cuts.

GM has also announced that it has signed on to participate in Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, an initiative that brings together public and private sector partners to help advance the commercialization of technology that GM believes supports its equitable climate actions goals.

The commitment to Catalyst rounds out the other sustainability initiatives GM has established through the company’s $25 million Climate Equity Fund, which supports grassroots and community organizations that are working on the front lines of climate justice.