Jill read with interest an article written by Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors written for GreenMoney, a publication concerning sustainable business and impact investing. Below are excerpts from Ms. Barra’s article in the September/October 2017 edition.
- Wind and solar energy will account for nearly 50% of installed capacity; 34% of electricity generation worldwide by 2040. This compares with 12% and 5% today.
- GM uses solar, wind and landfill gas making them one of the world’s largest industrial consumers of renewable energy.
- Anticipate a convergence of electric, connected, shared and autonomous vehicles
- Created a partnership with Honda to mass produce advanced hydrogen fuel cell systems around 2020
With 90% of crashes due to human error, self-driving cars will save lives. GM is testing a fleet of Bolt EVs in San Francisco, Scottsdale and near the GM headquarters.
The GM car-sharing startup, Maven, has a fleet of 10,000 vehicles in 17 U.S. cities. Using an app, customers can reserve a vehicle.
As of December 2016, GM had 152 global facilities that recycle, reuse or convert to energy all waste from daily operations. GM’s goal is to use 100% renewable energy by 2050.
CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, named GM to its Global Climate A List for disclosure and performance on climate change impacts. GM is the only automaker on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America.
This is not an investment recommendation but rather a view of how one company is addressing climate change.