General Motors plans to source 100% renewable energy to power its US sites by 2025—five years earlier than previously announced, and 25 years ahead of its initial target that was set in 2016. By accelerating its renewable energy goal, 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.

Sourcing renewable energy is a critical component of GM’s plans to decarbonize its portfolio. As it works toward fulfilling its climate commitments, the company is focusing its renewable energy efforts on four pillars:

1. Increasing Energy Efficiency: GM’s energy goals begin with reducing energy consumption by improving energy efficiency. For 10 years, GM has been awarded the EPA Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award for its energy efficiency efforts.

2. Sourcing Renewables: While it works to minimize the amount of energy required to run its facilities, GM also sources renewable energy through direct investment, green tariffs and power purchase agreements. This is the main avenue through which GM will achieve its renewable energy goal.

3. Addressing Intermittency: GM is creating technology to store renewable energy over the medium- and long-term, so its power consumption is not disrupted by external fluctuations.

4. Policy Advocacy: Policy efforts are essential to expand transmission, create microgrids that help deploy renewable energy, and enable markets to price these solutions to enable a carbon-free resilient power system. GM supports policies that enable a carbon-free, resilient power system.

Additionally, GM announced 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.

This carbon tracking initiative enables GM to make strategic decisions about its energy consumption based on the carbon output of the grid at a given time. When the power being supplied consists mostly of fossil fuels, GM can make informed decisions about tapping into stored renewable energy or reduce the amount of power being consumed.

The initiative is expected to expand eventually to include the carbon emissions associated with customers’ electric vehicles, allowing GM to understand the fuller scope of the emissions it aims to address and helping the company decide where to invest renewable energy efforts to achieve the greatest impact beyond its own operations.