GHG Emissions, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  February 5, 2021

BMW Group sources aluminum produced using solar energy

The BMW Group announced on Feb. 2 that it will begin sourcing aluminum produced using solar electricity. This marks an important milestone on the road to the company’s goal of lowering CO2 emissions in its supplier network by 20% by 2030. 

Producing aluminum is highly energy-intensive so the use of green power–such as solar electricity–offers considerable potential for reducing CO2 emissions. The BMW Group also plans to source aluminum produced with green power in the long term, enabling it to avoid about 2.5 million tons of CO2 emissions over the next ten years. This is equivalent to about 3% of the CO2 targets the company has set for its supplier network.

“We aspire to lead the way in sustainability and implement our sustainability goals in a systematic manner,” Dr. Andreas Wendt, member of the board of management of BMW AG responsible for purchasing and supplier network, said in a statement. “We will be able to meet over 50% of our CO2 targets for the supplier network just by using green power. The use of solar electricity for producing aluminum is a major step in this direction.”

The trend towards e-mobility means that a much larger percentage of a vehicle’s lifecycle CO2 emissions now comes from upstream added value in the supplier network. In an EV, CO2 emissions from the use phase are much lower, but producing battery cells or aluminum is very energy-intensive. Without corrective measures, CO2 emissions per vehicle in the BMW Group supply chain would increase by more than a third by 2030. The company not only wants to stop this trend but also reverse it–and even lower CO2 emissions per vehicle by 20% from 2019 levels.

The BMW Group has therefore already agreed with suppliers for its current fifth-generation battery cells that they will only use green power for this production.

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