The Department of Defense (DoD) and the General Services Administration (GSA) today issued a request for information to learn more about capabilities necessary to achieve the goal of President Biden’s executive order issued last December to cut carbon emissions across government and reach the goal of using 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030.
The EO sets forth a further series of goals including a 65 percent reduction in carbon emissions by the Federal government by 2030, and a net-zero emissions goal by 2050.
The order also requires Federal agencies to pursue procurement strategies to reduce “contractor emissions and embodied emissions” in products used in Federal projects, and tasks GSA with tracking disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction targets by major Federal suppliers.
DoD and GSA said today that the RFI aims to “gather market information and capabilities in supplying carbon pollution-free electricity to the Federal government. This is an important step forward in transforming how the U.S. government buys and manages electricity, and it puts the nation on a path to achieving a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035.”
The agencies said the goals of the effort are to:
- “Demonstrate the intent to achieve 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity for Federal operations by using a whole-of-government approach;
- Understand the ability of industry to supply 24×7 hourly matched carbon pollution-free electricity, and gather pricing information based on scale; and
- Gather information from industry on potential approaches to meeting the targets set by the Federal Sustainability Plan.”
Transition to carbon-free electricity, said Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, is not “just critical to addressing the threat of climate change, but also to our national security as we work to secure U.S. competitiveness in rapidly-shifting global energy markets.” DoD is the largest energy consumer among Federal agencies.
GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said her agency “is committed to working with DOD and other partner agencies to move us all toward sourcing 100% carbon pollution-free electricity.” She continued, “Powering the Federal government with 100 percent clean energy will mean more clean jobs in communities, more clean energy sources in the market, and a cleaner planet for everyone.”
