General Motors vows to run entirely on renewable energy by 2050

Car maker plans to run 350 operations across globe on renewable sources

'The company should be announcing that all their cars will powered by renewable energy, not just their operations,' a Greenpeace spokesperson says (Getty)

Manufacturing giant General Motors (GM) has vowed to run entirely on renewable energy by the middle of the century.

The company plans to generate its electricity - needed to power its 350 operations across the globe - entirely from renewable sources.

However, it remains to be seen how many of the 9.8 million vehicles it produces annually will be powered by sustainable energy.

Greenpeace have called the move "woefully inadequate".

GM consumed nine terawatt hours of energy last year to build its vehicles and power its buildings. The company said it would invest in increasing efficiency while also shifting where it gets its energy from.

“This pursuit of renewable energy benefits our customers and communities through cleaner air while strengthening our business through lower and more stable energy costs,” GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement.

GM says it saved $5 million (£3.8 million) a year from using renewables. Over the years, it claimed the science has saved them $80 million (£60 million).

The car company has worked to change its public image – introducing renewable energy to its processes and disassociating itself from efforts to discredit climate change science.

In 2012 the company broke off a 20-year relationship with the climate sceptic thinktank Heartland.

The largest car manufacturer in the US, GM recently produced its first mass market electric-only car. GM beat electric car company Tesla in producing a model ready to hit the roads.

Currently the company has 22 sites which use solar power and four which are due to use wind.

The company also promotes landfill gas as part of its renewable plan, which it uses in three of its sites. Landfill gas burns rubbish to try to lower the amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Greenpeace spokesperson Paul Morozzo told The Independent: "This announcement sounds bold, but is actually woefully inadequate.

“The company should be announcing that all their cars will powered by renewable energy, not just their operations. To have any chance of meeting climate targets agreed in Paris and protect our health from air pollution, all new cars need to be electric by at least 2030.

"A year on from the VW scandal this announcement shows neither the leadership nor the vision the car industry needs".

Transport fumes contribute about 14 per cent of global greenhouse emissions. One climate change study, backed by three European research groups, said the last cars powered by fossil fuels will have to be phased out by 2035 to keep global warming below 1.5C.

Leaders in Paris agreed global warming must be kept “well below” 2C while “pursuing efforts” for a 1.5C limit.