• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • Mazda Turbocharges its Carbon Roster
  • Ford Recalls 125K Vehicles Due to Fire-Causing Engine Failures
  • Honda “At the Crossroads” as it Races to Catch Up with EV Leaders
  • Cyclists, You’re Less Likely to Get Hit by a Subaru
  • Chevrolet Celebrates Camaro with Collector’s Edition
  • Volvo Rides EVs to Big Uptick in May Global Sales
  • Materials Needed for EVs is a Growing Headache
  • GM Investing Over $1 Billion in Two Plants to Roll Out New Heavy-Duty Pickups
  • Week Ahead: New Cars, New EVs and New Tech
  • All-Electric Buzz Debut Conjures Up Tales of VW’s Past
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0 SE
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Niro SX Touring
    • A Week With: 2023 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Estrema Q4
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus NX 350h Luxury
    • A Week With: 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line
    • First Drive: 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium RWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Electrified GV70 AWD Prestige
    • A Week With: 2023 BMW XM
    • A Week With: 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS 580 4Matic
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > GM, Ford Speed Up Shift to Renewable Plant Power

        GM, Ford Speed Up Shift to Renewable Plant Power

        General Motors now expects all U.S. operations to be green by 2025 – five years earlier than planned.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Oct. 01, 2021

        General Motors will have all of its U.S. operations running on renewable energy by 2025 — five years earlier than it originally planned.

        GM Baltimore rooftop solar array
        GM said it plans to have all of its U.S. operations running on renewable energy by 2025.

        Most major automakers are in the process of switching to alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal. Ford this week cited the availability of renewable power as a key reason it will set up a massive new EV assembly plant in Tennessee.

        While much of the attention has been on curbing pollution from vehicle tailpipes, automotive manufacturing facilities dump millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, a good bit created by the utility companies that provide power, but also from on-site production from furnaces and other energy sources.

        GM has been positioning itself as a leader in sustainability, targeting both the sale of battery-powered vehicles and a reduction in emissions at its plants.

        Speeding up the shift

        Just last January, it announced new steps to source clean energy for U.S. facilities, with a goal of switching to 100% renewable power by 2030. It now says it will achieve that goal by 2025. That will eliminate production of an estimated 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide during that five-year period, GM said.

        GM renewable energy chart

        “We know climate action is a priority and every company must push itself to decarbonize further and faster,” GM Chief Sustainability Officer Kristen Siemen said in a statement. “That’s what we are doing by aiming to achieve 100% renewable energy five years earlier in the U.S. as we continue to advance on our commitment to lead an all-electric, carbon-neutral future.”

        GM has been accelerating the switch to renewable for much of the past decade. Steps include shifting sources from coal and natural gas to solar and wind-generated energy. Solar arrays have popped up on-site at many of the automaker’s operations. At the Factory Zero EV plant in Detroit, energy from the sun will be used to charge up vehicles like the GMC Hummer pickup before being shipped to customers.

        Addressing “intermittency”

        GM Wind Power
        GM is aiming to power all of its U.S. facilities with alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar.

        The automaker has set a goal of completely phasing out internal combustion engines in retail products by 2035 and plans to have at least 30 battery-electric vehicles in production by the middle of this decade. The Hummer will be its next, followed by the Cadillac Lyriq in 2022.

        The largest of the domestic automakers also plans to “address intermittency,” installing new energy storage systems that can fill in the gaps overnight when solar cells stop working, or when wind generators are becalmed. GM has been working on ways to reuse old vehicle batteries for energy storage but hasn’t said if it will use that approach on a mass scale.

        Other manufacturers, including Honda and Toyota, have been migrating to clean energy at their own U.S. plants.

        Ford CEO Jim Farley stressed that the availability of renewable energy sources was a critical factor in its choice of Tennessee as the site for the 6-square-mile Blue Oval City it plans to open by 2025. The complex will build all-electric versions of Ford’s F-Series pickups, as well as the batteries to power them. The primary energy supplier will be the Tennessee Valley Authority which relies on hydro and other green sources. The facility also can tap geothermal energy from beneath the site, Ford COO Lisa Drake told TheDetroitBureau.com.

        Ford wants to use 100% renewable energy for its global operations by 2035 — but it hasn’t laid out specific plans for the U.S.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        2024 Mazda Carbon Turbo CX-5 model REL

        Mazda Turbocharges its Carbon Roster

        Yesterday
        2022 Ford Maverick Lariat

        Ford Recalls 125K Vehicles Due to Fire-Causing Engine Failures

        Yesterday
        Honda Prologue - teaser

        Honda “At the Crossroads” as it Races to Catch Up with EV Leaders

        Yesterday

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: