Ripple, the leading crypto-firm announced a joint strategic ESG investment of $44 million with Nelnet Renewable Energy, a Nelnet business, into one of Nelnet's solar energy investment funds.
The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment will fund solar energy projects throughout the United States in support of the transition to a cleaner and more stable energy future.
Ripple-Nelnet Renewable Energy funded solar projects are estimated to offset over 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide over 35 year.
Ripple is already a part of the Crypto Climate Accord which is a private sector initiative focused on decarbonizing cryptocurrencies and making the crypto industry 100% renewable by 2030. The firm partnered with Energy Web and the Rocky Mountain Institute, last year, to decarbonize the XRP Ledger, the first major global blockchain to do so. Ripple says that it has made a commitment to become carbon net-zero by 2030 by reducing emissions and investing in carbon removal projects like reforestation, biochar and carbon sequestration.
Source: Nelnet
Ken Weber, Head of Social Impact at Ripple, said "We're excited to work with Nelnet as we pursue our commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of financial services globally and to deliver on the promise of a carbon-negative cryptocurrency industry."
It's worth noting that Nelnet, a publicly-traded diversified financial services and technology firm, scored an E1 ESG rating from S&P Global Ratings, in March, on one of their earlier clean energy funds, marking high scores on transparency, environmental and governance. Here, E1 is the top ESG rating in the S&P Global rating system.
"Investments like these help create jobs, provide cost-competitive energy to the market, and promote sustainability for years to come." said, Scott Gubbels, Executive Director of Nelnet Renewable Energy.
Nelnet said that investments in solar power projects could not come at a better time, especially with the United States's Department of Energy's Solar Futures Study projection which states 45% of all energy in the country could be produced by solar by 2050.