Mars, Incorporated announced a new decarbonization initiative Thursday, teaming with energy partner Enel to launch its Renewable Acceleration program, which aims to speed the company’s transition from fossil fuels to clean energy across its entire value chain.
The program is designed to cover electricity use from farms that grow ingredients to the trucks that deliver products, and even energy used by consumers at home or at Banfield veterinary offices. Mars said Renewable Acceleration could cut about 3 million tonnes of carbon emissions, roughly 10% of its current footprint.
“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,” said 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.”
Mars said its direct operations use about 2 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually, equivalent to the energy consumption of The Bahamas. Factoring in suppliers, customers, and consumers, the company’s total electricity use rises to 8–9 TWh, comparable to Estonia.
The company signed its first Renewable Acceleration contract with Enel North America, the largest power purchase agreement the Enel Group has reached with a commercial customer worldwide, and the largest in Mars’ history. The first three contracts will generate 1.8 TWh annually, avoiding about 700,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. All three Texas solar sites in the deal will incorporate sheep grazing to manage vegetation.
“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 decarbonize,” said 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 program.”
Mars expects the program to contribute to a 10% reduction in its carbon footprint by 2030. The effort is part of the company’s broader sustainability plan, which also addresses deforestation, climate-smart agriculture, transport improvements, and embedding sustainability across its operations.
