Facebook pledged Tuesday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 75 percent and use 100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2020.
“In a record-breaking year of corporate renewable energy purchases, Facebook is on track to be one of the largest corporate purchasers of renewable energy,” Facebook said as it announced its new clean energy targets.
Like other tech giants, Facebook consumes lots of electricity to power its data centers. Facebook produced 979,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent last year, with about two-thirds coming from powering data centers, according to the social network’s website.
This is Facebook’s first stab at setting a greenhouse gas emissions target. It expands on a goal the company set in 2015 to get 50 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2018. Facebook says it achieved that goal a year early, in 2017.
Facebook’s move highlights the growth of corporate action driving expanded use of wind and solar power.
Google and Apple separately announced in April that the companies already obtain all of their energy from renewable sources.
