GHG Emissions, Commercial, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  June 20, 2017 - By Amy Poszywak

Lyft sets renewable energy goal for autonomous cars

Ride-sharing company Lyft announced a bold new climate goal for its platform: All electric autonomous vehicles will be powered by 100% renewable energy. 

In a July 15 blog post, Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green called climate change "one of the defining issues and greatest global threats of our time," and said the move is a reflection of the company's efforts to ensure that the U.S. remains on track to meet its Paris climate accord goals. Lyft is one of the more than 900 businesses that have joined mayors, governors, investors and other institutions in a coalition that pledged to continue work to meet the country's commitments after President Trump announced he would withdraw the U.S. from the global agreement. 

"Lyft was founded on the belief that technology will enable us to dramatically reduce carbon emissions from the transportation system while improving quality of life and access to opportunity for all Americans," Zimmer and Green wrote. "We're more determined now than ever before to make that vision a reality."

According to the post, Lyft's electric autonomous vehicles will be 100% renewable from day one, beginning with the nuTonomy vehicles that are expected to launch in Boston later this year. Combined with its goal of providing at least one billion rides using autonomous vehicles by 2025, Lyft says its efforts will reduce lower the U.S. transportation sector's carbon emissions by least five million tons per year by 2025.

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