Snacking giant Mars, Incorporated has unveiled a new programme, Renewable Acceleration, which has been developed to ‘speed up the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy’, the company said in a statement.
Mars has teamed up with energy partner Enel on the initiative, which is aimed at transitioning its entire value chain to clean, renewable energy, including suppliers, logistics, and even energy used by consumers at home.
‘A performance accelerator’
“Many large companies are well on their way to sourcing renewable electricity for their own operations, but that’s just a part of the picture,” commented Kevin Rabinovitch, global VP sustainability.
“For Mars, Renewable Acceleration is a performance accelerator, cutting emissions at a scale and speed we could never achieve through traditional value chain engagement approaches. It lets us bring demand for all the electricity used in our value chain to the clean energy market in a highly efficient manner. The more demand we create together, the faster we can build the future we all want. And clean energy means cleaner air for our communities, our people, and our partners.”
According to Mars, by sourcing renewable energy to cover its entire value chain, the company estimates it could cut around three million tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent to about 10% of its total footprint compared to a 2015 baseline.
Electricity usage
Mars’ direct operations currently account for about 2 TWh of electricity annually, which equates to around the annual yearly consumption of The Bahamas. If suppliers, customers, and consumers are included, however, this energy use jumps to between 8 and 9 TWh, the company noted.
The first three projects to be implemented under the Renewable Acceleration project will generate some 1.8 TWh annually, with Mars’ value chain benefitting from 1.8 terawatt-hours of solar power each year from Enel’s plants in Texas. This will enable the avoidance of around 700kt of CO₂e per year.
“Renewable Acceleration is a bold initiative to support the buildout of more clean energy capacity, which we know is among the fastest and most economical ways to decarbonise,” added Michele Di Murro, CEO of Enel North America. “Mars is raising the bar for corporate sustainability strategies, taking a comprehensive and direct approach to addressing emissions across its entire value chain. Enel is proud to partner with Mars in launching this new programme.” Read more here.
