Many after-work pints will soon get a whole lot greener with the world’s biggest beer brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, announcing its global operations will switch to 100 percent renewable energy by 2025.
The commitment means the company, which owns and distributes popular brands such as Budweiser, Becks, Corona, Stella Artois and Carlton United Breweries beers, is set to become the largest direct corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the global consumer goods market.
Most of the clean power to drive the transformation – 75-85 percent – will come from power purchase agreements with renewable energy firms. The other 25 percent will be sourced from on-site generation in the form of large-scale commercial rooftop solar installations.
The company says the plan will reduce its global carbon footprint by 30 percent. It will see six terawatt hours of electricity use annually moved to renewable sources across AB InBev’s operations in countries including Argentina, Brazil, India and South Africa.
The company states the amount of new renewable electricity generated will be the equivalent of that produced by solar panels covering an equivalent area of over 400 standard FIFA-sized soccer pitches, and the program will support efforts to achieve climate targets under the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) agreements.
AB InBev is also a recent signatory to RE100, the global corporate initiative aiming to boost the uptake of renewable energy by major brands. Other iconic names to have signed on to the RE100 include Apple.
“Climate change has profound implications for our company and for the communities where we live and work,” said AB InBev CEO Carlos Brito.
“Cutting back on fossil fuels is good for the environment and good for business, and we are committed to helping drive positive change. We have the opportunity to play a leading role in the battle against climate change by purchasing energy in a more sustainable way.”
The initiative begins at the AB InBev’s largest brewery located in Zacatecas, Mexico. The company has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Spanish renewables giant Iberdrola for 490 gigawatt-hours per year of clean electricity.
Under the deal, Iberdrola will build 220 MW of new onshore wind power capacity in the Mexican state of Puebla. The investment will cover all AB InBev’s country-wide operations and is expected to increase Mexico’s solar and wind capacity by five percent.
