General Motors will begin to source energy from a large new solar panel array in Arkansas – a major step towards its goal of sourcing 100% of its energy from renewables by 2040.
The 180-megawatt solar project will be able to power 47,882 U.S. homes for one year – however the panel array won’t be sending electricity to residential areas. Instead, they will provide power to the GM Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri and GM Lansing Delta Township Assembly plant in Michigan, both of which will then run off 100 percent renewable energy. The remaining, leftover power will also be sent to the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant in Michigan.
With this deal, GM will surpass 1 gigawatt in annual renewable energy usage. The company is currently the 11th most prominent user of renewable power in the U.S. and the largest in the manufacturing sector.
The solar array is being set up in partnership with First Solar, the largest manufacturer of solar panels in the U.S. Of the nine largest solar panel manufacturers, First Solar is also the only U.S.-headquartered company. It also employs more than 2,500 Americans nationwide – 1,600 of which work at its U.S. manufacturing plants.
“As GM continues its transition to an all-electric, zero-emissions future, it is imperative that we also invest in a cleaner grid that can support everything – from our factories to our vehicles,” said Chief Sustainability Officer at GM, Dane Parker, said in a statement.
GM will also have the option to store the clean energy for later use with this energy purchasing agreement – a first for the company.
When the new Arkansas solar panel array is complete, GM will be more than 60% of the way toward its goal of sourcing 100% of its energy for U.S. manufacturing sites from renewables. Looking beyond 2030, GM hopes to source every last watt of power it uses globally from renewables – including at all of its manufacturing sites, office buildings, shipping warehouses and engineering centers, among more.
GM CEO Mary Barra said previously that “establishing a 100 percent renewable energy goal helps us better serve society by reducing environmental impact,” and added that its pursuit of renewables will benefit “customers and communities through cleaner air while strengthening our business through lower and more stable energy costs.”
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Comments
They’ll run a dedicated power line to Mo. and Mich.? Article says it’s for GM, no one else. Smoke and mirrors. Although I will say cudos to GM for even building it.
The idea is they will build the Soler Array and then purchase the equivalent power generated by the array for their plants.
It’s a carbon offset I think. Though they very well could have dedicated lines built or switching stations heh.
Nice job by GM
Total BS
Yeah, its not quite the ‘green machine’ its purported to be….. Of course I have no real problem with American Mined Coal-Power – although they’ve effectively banned its usage in my home (NY) State.
I also have 38 solar panels on my roof which provide effectively 100% of the energy accrued on my electric bill, but I originally bought my 3 GM Plug-ins to be recharged with Coal Power – but whatever.
The GHG thing has been blown way out of proportion, as Carbon Dioxide (as opposed to ‘Carbon’) is a Building Block of Life, and MORE CO2 is always beneficial to mankind, as plants grow much better with it. As Trump has leaked out, the World overall is getting colder, and while not obvious to everyone in time it will be. Incidentally, although primarily by Forest Mismanagement by California, their ‘Unprecedented !!!’ fires this year are about 20% of the acreage burned in 1930, around the hottest time in the USA overall in recent memory.
It really doesn’t matter anyway what the USA does – they can ban Coal-fired-power plants in their entirety and it won’t make any difference since the number of NEW COAL PLANTS on the drawing board in China for the next few years are equivalent to the ENTIRE installed base of Coal plants in the USA.
Assuming the $Millions paid to Machete Mary Barra, I assume she knows this already – (perhaps I’m granting her a higher IQ than deserved), and this is merely a marketing/political ploy to be seen an an Ecological Company.
Well that’s nice… I assume they have to call themselves something now that they no longer consider themselves an American Company.
Thanks Nebula, Just wonder why they didn’t write the article that way? As an carbon offset. I retired from the Wentzville plant, live close by, don’t see me new power lines, nothing in the local news about it either.
This is a great example of how local economies benefit from solar/wind energy. Jobs are created locally to build the solar farm and the farmers benefit by leasing out their land. All this money stays local and in this case even though the electricity might be going to Missouri and Michigan. But better than sending money to Saudi Arabia or Russia or Houston 😉