Vodafone announces European network will be powered by 100% renewable electricity by 2021
Vodafone has also announced a new target to help customers save 350 million tonnes of CO2e by 2030.
Vodafone has also announced a new target to help customers save 350 million tonnes of CO2e by 2030.
Vodafone has announced that, by no later than July 2021, its European network will be powered by 100% renewable electricity.
In addition to this, the telecommunications company will also help business customers who use its services reduce their own carbon emissions by a cumulative total of 350 million tonnes globally over 10 years between 2020 and 2030.
Vodafone’s pledges align with the company’s purpose to improve the lives of 1 billion people while halving its environmental impact by 2025.
In 2019, Vodafone committed to purchasing all electricity from renewable sources, halving its environmental footprint by 2025 and reusing, reselling or recycling 100% of its network waste, supporting the move towards a more circular economy.
Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read said: “More than ever, Vodafone is relied upon to connect millions of people around the world. As society rebuilds and recovers from the COVID-19 crisis, we have an opportunity to reshape our future sustainably to ensure that recovery does not come at a cost to the environment.”
“Our accelerated shift to 100% renewable electricity on our European networks will change the way we power our technology for good - reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, helping our customers manage their resources more effectively and reduce their carbon emissions, while helping to create a healthier planet for everyone.”
The new carbon reduction target was developed with support from Carbon Trust, who calculated the total quantity of emissions Vodafone has helped business customers avoid and has modelled potential future scenarios to inform Vodafone’s target setting in this area.
Vodafone remains committed to improving the energy efficiency of its base station sites and in its data and switching centres, which together account for 95% of the company’s total global energy consumption.
During 2020, Vodafone invested €77 million in energy efficiency and renewable projects, which led to annual energy savings of 186GWh.
Vodafone say that its energy efficiency initiatives are focused on sourcing and implementing more efficient network equipment, reducing energy demand by installing lower-energy power and cooling technologies, and cutting energy use by decommissioning and replacing legacy equipment.
