Sony joins RE100 and aims to be 100% renewable by 2040

Sony has become the latest major member of the RE100, pledging that it will target 100% renewable energy target for all of its operations by 2040.

The Japanese tech firm follows a number of other technology companies in joining the global NGO initiative, which promotes renewable energy.

To meet the 2040 target, the company has laid out plans to install solar at manufacturing sites in Asia, and to develop an ‘intracompany electricity transfer plan generated at Sony sites’ in order to power its operations in Japan. The company notes that within Europe it has already achieved 100% renewable electricity.

Sony has also adopted a ‘Road to Zero’ plan, by which it plans a course towards zero environmental footprint across the lifecycle of all of its products by 2050, and has set itself the shorter term target or using renewable energy equivalent to the reduction of 300,000 tons in CO2 emissions by 2020.

Sony President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida states the pledge forms part of the company’s “Road to Zero” initiative to eliminate its environmental footprint.

“We are pleased to join RE100 and contribute to the realization of a society that operates on fully renewable energy, state,” he said.

“We are also proactively taking measures to assess and minimize the impact of our overall business activities such as semiconductor manufacturing on the environment. By joining RE100, we hope to contribute to the expanded usage of renewable energy not only within Sony but by the industry at large.”

The RE100 initiative consists of 140 companies which have committed to 100% renewable energy on varying timeframes. Earlier in 2018, Bloomberg NEF estimated that the commitments from these member companies could create demand for up to 35 GW of new PV installations worldwide.

Source: Energyzine