While micromobility advocates like to highlight their sustainability bonafides, industry antagonists often doubt those claims, pointing out that many scooter trips replace journeys that would have otherwise taken place by foot or bicycle. This week, Ford Mobility-owned Spin announced a new initiative that should help quiet some critics: the company will be carbon negative by 2025.
Going not just carbon neutral, but negative (meaning the company will offset more carbon emissions than it creates) is an aggressive goal to pull off in just five years. To accomplish it, Spin is looking to:
- First complete an internal audit of the company’s carbon emissions, in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
- Transition vans and heavy equipment used for scooter maintenance and rebalancing to 100% hybrid and battery electric.
- Recharge scooters with 100% renewable energy.
- Integrate rider mode shift as a core company sustainability metric, to encourage replacement of automotive trips.
- Increase vehicle longevity to 24 months, and ensure all deactivated scooters are recycled.
Spin states that the key to pulling off these ambitious goals are the company’s deep transportation expertise, its relationship with Ford’s manufacturing experts, and its reliance on an all-employee workforce, whereas most competitors make use of gig workers.
Said Spin CBO Ben Bear, “for a sustainable transportation provider, getting to carbon neutral isn’t enough.”
