In line with the worldwide push towards clean energy and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has announced that 87 percent of the electricity used for its operations in Karnataka’s Bidadi facility came from renewable sources in FY 2018-19 (until January 2019).

Toyota has shown a positive shift from the use of non-renewable to renewable sources of energy across its business operations. The share of green energy sourcing in 2017-18 jumped to 65 percent, while in 2016-17, it was 38 percent.

To source renewable energy, Toyota has installed 8.4 MW of rooftop and ground-mounted solar power projects at Bidadi. It has explored other ways to increase its renewable energy share such as procuring solar power from solar parks and open access sourcing.

“Business can play a significant leadership role in accelerating the transition to a lower-carbon economy; we see renewable energy to be a key component of climate action efforts. Reiterating our commitment to enable greener environment, TKM sources clean energy and adopts smart manufacturing systems towards Toyota’s ultimate global mission of ‘Zero Carbon Emission,” said Masakazu Yoshimura, Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

TKM sourced 100 percent renewable energy for its operation at Bidadi in October 2018. It has reduced over 51,000 tons of carbon emissions during the first three quarters of FY 2018-19.

Toyota has set a goal to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2050.

In November 2018, Mercom reported that RE100 member companies sourced 72 TWh of renewable power in 2017, an increase of 41 percent compared with the preceding year and the countries have pledged to source 100 percent electricity from renewable sources by 2026.

Recently,  Amazon announced that it aims to make 50 percent of all of its shipments with net zero carbon by 2030. The company plans on achieving this goal by leveraging renewable energy, biofuels, and reusable packaging. The company calls this initiative “Shipment Zero.”

Google signed a long-term agreement in January 2019, to buy solar power from a 10 MW solar array, which is a part of a larger solar farm located in Tainan City.

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer