As biotech and pharmaceutical companies look for credible ways to reduce their environmental footprint, many are turning their attention beyond internal operations to the suppliers that power laboratory and clinical work. My Green Lab’s newly released 2025 Carbon Impact of Biotech and Pharma Report details a significant step forward: a series of multi-buyer renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPAs)—long-term contracts that allow organizations to purchase electricity directly from new solar and wind projects.
These agreements represent one of the clearest examples of coordinated climate action across the life sciences. For lab managers, they signal an important shift—one that could influence the carbon intensity of lab consumables, reshape the lab supply chain, and strengthen long-term sustainability expectations for vendors.
New PPAs deliver substantial renewable capacity
Two major renewable energy PPAs are detailed in the report. The first agreement provides 563.7 GWh of renewable electricity each year and is estimated to avoid 393,795 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. The second PPA supplies an additional 245 GWh of renewable electricity per year and extends clean energy access across North America, Europe, and Asia.
In the life sciences, PPAs serve as a mechanism for companies to lock in long-term renewable power at predictable rates—an approach that helps decarbonize upstream manufacturing for common lab products. Together, these renewable energy PPAs deliver more than 808 GWh of clean electricity, supporting high-impact suppliers responsible for manufacturing lab consumables, equipment, and materials.
Supplier engagement strengthens emissions reductions
Renewable-energy procurement can be challenging for smaller manufacturers that lack the scale to negotiate competitive long-term clean-energy contracts. Multi-buyer PPAs help bridge this gap by pooling demand from several pharmaceutical companies and enabling suppliers to access affordable renewable electricity.
According to the report, more than 750 suppliers have participated in renewable-energy or emissions-reduction initiatives across Energize, Activate, and Sustainable Markets Initiative programs. These collaborations support supplier emissions reductions by offering:
- Lower barriers to entering renewable-energy markets
- Improved emissions performance
- More consistent carbon data
- Stronger operational resilience
Implications for labs and procurement teams
As suppliers adopt renewable-energy commitments, lab managers may begin to see:
- Lower-carbon product portfolios
- More detailed sustainability documentation from vendors
- Greater availability of Product Carbon Footprints
- Updated supplier scorecards emphasizing emissions metrics
These changes can support more accurate Scope 3 reporting at the lab and institutional levels and improve visibility across the lab supply chain.
Why renewable energy PPAs matter for lab managers
The expansion of renewable energy PPAs across pharma supply chains offers tangible benefits for laboratory operations:
- Reduced embedded emissions in equipment and consumables
- Clearer sustainability data for purchasing decisions
- Better alignment with organizational decarbonization goals
- Reduced supply risk as clean-energy incentives evolve
As the sector accelerates its decarbonization efforts, renewable energy PPAs demonstrate a scalable model for supplier emissions reductions—one that additional scientific sectors may soon follow.
This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.
