The fight against climate change continues to reach and impact more and more aspects of human activity. Businesses are a central part of both the fight against climate change and its root cause. Approximately two thirds of the world’s electricity consumption come from companies in the commercial and industrial sector. Solnet is a solar developer specialized in helping RE100 companies reach their renewable energy targets in Europe.
The RE100, renewable electricity 100%, is an initiative for forward-thinking companies to join in order to set ambitious goals for sourcing their electricity from renewable sources. The organization has over 200 members, including some of the largest companies in the world, and they have all pledged to go 100% renewable by 2050 at the absolute latest. Many of the companies have a much more ambitious goal, the RE100 states that a firm should be 100% renewable by 2030 to set a leadership standard.
The majority of companies have set a RE100 goal date between 2020 and 2030 (the average year is 2028) in line with the Paris climate accords of halving world emissions by 2030. Furthermore, 1 in 3 companies have already reached 70% renewable electricity, and 3 in 4 are targeting 2030 at the latest. Lastly, there are also a number of companies who have reached the 100% goal and are looking further to become climate positive. Crucially, this can mean influencing and investing in their supply chains which can be located in countries where coal is still a large part of the energy mix.
Creating demand for renewable energy in places where it is least developed has the potential for very high emissions impact, as supply chain emissions are typically four times higher than from direct operations. In countries where electricity grids are still non-renewable, local generation from solar energy that bypasses the high emissions and unreliable grid are crucial in achieving rapid energy mix change. Solnet is specialized in developing turnkey, on-site solar generation, either as a direct investment or as a PPA (power purchase agreement).
RE100 companies submit to a reporting system with regards to their current energy sourcing in order to monitor their progress and aggregate the information into annual reports. This data is valuable for understanding progress and the drivers, challenges, methods, savings and impacts of going 100% renewable. By highlighting achievements, holding companies accountable and communicating the compelling business case of renewable energy, RE100 accelerates the change towards zero carbon grids.
Solnet is a preferred partner of many RE100 companies. We assist the world’s largest companies to reach their goals of 100% renewable energy with the help of on-site solar energy generation. Solar energy is the lowest-cost form of energy on the planet. Solnet is specialized in helping our partners transform their European operations towards the new normal of running on clean energy, with the easiest, safest and most bankable solar solutions available.
Jonatan Höglund, the author of the blog, works as a Business Development Manager at Solnet Group. If you want your company to be part of the solution towards a 100% renewable world, please contact Jonatan.
