​General Motors has announced that it plans to source its entire energy needs from renewable sources by 2025 in the US. The company will be using an array of technologies, including solar PV farms.

The plan is to source 100% renewables across its entire American manufacturing base five years earlier than the company previously planned for, by 2025. This is also 25 years faster than the original 100% renewables target it set back in 2015.

In fast-tracking its goals for renewable power, the company hopes to save around a million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions that would have otherwise been produced up to 2030.

Kristen Siemen, GM's Chief Sustainability Officer, said that the firm recognised climate action as one of its key priorities, with all businesses now forcing themselves to drive their decarbonisation targets forward. She added that GM was working toward a future where its entire operation was carbon-neutral and all-electric.

GM is using Science Based Targeting to measure its progress and plans by 2040 to be entirely carbon-neutral across its operations, working to remove tailpipe emissions across its light-duty vehicle range by 2035. As part of this, it will be investing $35 billion in self-driving and electric vehicles. By 2025 it plans to have over 30 electric vehicles on offer in the market.

The company will also be focusing on four pillars to achieve its goals: boosting energy efficiency, sourcing renewable energy, addressing issues with intermittency by creating new technologies and advocating for policy change. One of its key projects will involve the development of sustainable micro-grids for effective renewable generation, distribution and storage on a localised scale. It will also work with partner firms to track its carbon emissions in real time for transparency and accuracy.