PARIS — Danone SA executives expect a global energy program announced Nov. 17 to improve energy efficiency by 35% by 2025 and to reduce the company’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by a minimum of 42% by 2030. Through the program, Danone also plans to increase its use of renewable energy and have 100% of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2030.
“Energy is a massive contributor to how we make our category-leading products, but it also has an environmental impact,” said Vikram Agarwal, chief operations officer for Danone. “That’s why we are transforming the energy footprint of our sites globally through this energy excellence program. We will do this under three pillars: energy efficiency, investing in more energy-efficient process technology and upweighting renewable energy sources.”
Improving energy efficiency will include scaling up tools such as robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). Nearly 69% of Danone’s electricity is renewable now, putting the company in sight of 100% by 2030. Danone also set a goal of more than half of the energy it uses to be renewable by 2030. Examples of renewable energy are biogas, biomass, solar and hydrogen.
Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions that occur from sources controlled or owned by a company, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Scope 2 emissions are indirect GHG emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat or cooling. Since 2015 Danone has reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by over 48% and has a commitment to reduce the emissions by a further 42% by 2030.