Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is fed up with corporations exaggerating their environmental credentials.
“There’s far an excessive amount of greenwashing within the system,” he mentioned in a current interview. For Scaringe, it is too straightforward for an organization to cover the supply of its vitality consumption, particularly when it isn’t really creating any new renewable vitality capability. And customers aren’t savvy sufficient to inform the distinction.
“It is so conceptually advanced,” he mentioned, drawing a transparent distinction between corporations that purchase renewable vitality to cowl their very own emissions whereas constructing new capability and those who wish to “pay an additional quantity to get the power to pat ourselves on the again and say we’re utilizing renewable vitality.”
Scaringe locations Rivian firmly within the class of corporations that need not solely to eradicate their very own carbon emissions, but additionally to contribute to the creation of latest capacities for the creation of renewable vitality. To that finish, he’s in Kentucky on Tuesday to announce Rivian’s help for a brand new photo voltaic vitality heart to be constructed on high of a former coal mine.
Positioned atop a ridge in jap Kentucky, the Starfire Mine at one time noticed a whole lot of miners hauling hundreds of thousands of tons of coal annually. However it would quickly be the positioning of a large photo voltaic farm aimed toward creating 800 megawatts (MW) of vitality – sufficient to energy 160,000 houses annually. BrightNight, a Florida-based photo voltaic firm, can also be constructing a 10-mile transmission line to allow one other gigawatt of energy capability for the long run.
Rivian can be a purchaser of the challenge or a purchaser of the vitality generated from the positioning. The electrical car firm shouldn’t be immediately financing the challenge, which is estimated to price $1 billion, however it has dedicated to purchasing 100 MW of energy as a part of a digital energy buy settlement (PPA) — digital as a result of the clear vitality won’t movement immediately into Rivian’s electrical vehicles, SUVs or vans, and even into the corporate’s company places of work or factories. Nonetheless, Rivian says the vitality will assist “energy as much as 450 million miles of renewable driving yearly.”
Rivian can be a purchaser of the challenge or a purchaser of the vitality generated from the positioning
Digital PPAs have gotten an more and more in style type of clear vitality dedication for US corporations. In 2021, for instance, companies purchased a document 31.1 GW of fresh vitality, equal to greater than 10% of all new renewable vitality capability added worldwide that 12 months. Greater than half of the offers got here from tech giants, together with Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google.
Based on Scaringe, with out these PPAs, many of those renewable vitality tasks wouldn’t be capable to begin. Rivian could not finance the photo voltaic challenge immediately, however it ensures there can be a marketplace for the vitality when the photovoltaic cells come on-line. “If the businesses do not make the dedication to purchase energy, which makes the challenge financed, these tasks will not occur,” he mentioned.
Rivian shouldn’t be the primary automaker to commit to purchasing clear vitality by way of a digital PPA. Stellantis signed a 400MW cope with DTE Power in Michigan late final 12 months, whereas Mercedes-Benz mentioned it will purchase 140MW from an offshore wind farm within the Baltic Sea.
Digital PPAs are “simply scalable and permit consumers to fulfill a big portion of their sustainability objectives with a comparatively small variety of bids,” the Rocky Mountain Institute wrote in a 2019 report.
Based on Scaringe, with out these PPAs, many of those renewable vitality tasks wouldn’t be capable to begin
Rivian has been on the forefront of the electrical car and local weather change debate, criticizing its rivals for being “far behind” in lowering greenhouse fuel emissions in a manner that may meet the targets set by the Paris Settlement. The corporate wrote a report earlier this 12 months, together with Polestar, arguing that electrical autos alone wouldn’t be sufficient to restrict the rise in world temperatures. The automotive trade ought to play a stronger function in rising renewable vitality in electrical energy grids and lowering greenhouse fuel emissions all through its complete provide chain.
However the firm should transfer on. Rivian doesn’t share its emissions information with CDP, a nonprofit group that evaluates corporations’ environmental stories. Ford, for instance, earned “A” grades for its 2019 local weather change disclosures, whereas Tesla earned “F” grades. There’s a rising refrain of environmental advocates demanding extra transparency from companies in regards to the full image of their carbon emissions.
Picture by Mitchell Clark/The Verge
Scaringe mentioned Rivian is working towards “Purpose three neutrality,” which means it goals to eradicate all of its oblique emissions from its provide chain and the life cycle of the electrical autos it produces. A standard criticism of electrical autos is that they’re solely as clear as their vitality supply – in different phrases, if an electrical car is charging from a grid that will get its vitality primarily from a polluting supply corresponding to coal, then it can not declare to be a very clear mode of transport.
Rivian is concentrating on its Scope 1 emissions, from its manufacturing facility and company places of work, partially by putting in a wind turbine at its plant in Regular, Illinois. Scope 2 emissions from electrical energy use will must be managed by creating “an upstream provide that can assist offset” emissions created by Rivian’s suppliers, Scaringe mentioned.
However “90 p.c” of Rivian’s emissions are Scope three – its fleet of R1T electrical vehicles, R1S SUVs and EDV supply vans. And people emissions are why the corporate agrees to purchase 100 MW of energy from the Kentucky photo voltaic farm along with different PPAs. A digital energy settlement for the corporate’s present and future clients, which Scaringe expects will proceed to develop as the corporate’s manufacturing capabilities mature.
“We’re creating the provision that offsets our collective fleet utilization, and because the fleet grows, it turns into an enormous shopper of vitality,” he mentioned. “In a number of years, the Rivians automobile park will use extra vitality than your complete nation of Eire.”
