Solar energy is on the rise. And now, Walmart wants in.
What’s happening:
- Walmart (NYSE:WMT) has announced a new partnership with Pivot Energy to fund the development of 19 new solar energy projects in the United States
Why it matters:
- Funding for solar energy startups has been accelerating, with recent new financing rounds led by BlackRock and even Leonardo DiCaprio
By the numbers:
- Walmart will fund the development of 19 new solar energy projects, of which 15 of them are community solar farms
- Once complete, Pivot Energy expects that their new solar infrastructure will be able to power more than 7,000 individual homes
Going deeper:
- Walmart has been on a mission to decarbonize their operations, which they first formally announced through their Project Gigaton
- Project Gigaton has already met its initial target of reducing one gigaton of carbon emissions from Walmart's operations approximately half a decade sooner than they originally anticipated
The intrigue:
- One gigaton of carbon emissions is equivalent to approximately the entire emissions of Japan in a single year
