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

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