The Green Revolution: Amazon’s Renewable Energy Commitment

Companies regardless of their trade or background are gearing up to ensure they can keep up in what has become a rapidly evolving world. 

This is accelerated to some degree by the demand and pursuit of sustainable energy solutions, which is becoming increasingly pressing as the world journeys closer to 2030, 2040 and 2050 and the environmental and sustainability goals associated with them.

One giant throwing their weight in this field is Amazon. Having recently reached its renewable energy goal seven years ahead of schedule, the American multinational technology company continues to be at the forefront of the world’s green energy transformation.

Amazon’s commitment to a future powered entirely by renewable energy

Citing its commitment to renewable energy as not just a corporate one but one with benefits to the wider planet, Amazon is leveraging cutting-edge technology and strategic initiatives to meet its ambitious renewable energy goals.

For example, Amazon is harnessing solar energy and batteries — as well as AI — to help decarbonise the grid, even when the sun isn’t shining. This is thanks to a football field-sized battery energy storage system (BESS) next to solar panels at Baldy Mesa solar farm in the Mojave Desert in Southern California, which sends electricity gathered during the day back to the grid, ensuring carbon-free energy is available at any hour.

“AI is an important tool that’s already helping our society make the transition to carbon-free energy and address climate change at scale,” Kara Hurst, Amazon’s VP of Worldwide Sustainability said.

“Pairing solar projects enabled by Amazon with AI technologies powered by AWS helps to ensure the grid and the customers it serves receive a steady supply of carbon-free energy for more hours each day, while also helping Amazon make progress toward our commitment to be a more sustainable company.”

AI-powered robot Maximo is owned and operated by AES, one of Amazon’s renewable energy developers. The technology is being deployed at Amazon-backed solar projects to help build them faster and safer. 

“As society’s energy needs grow, the demand for new solar and wind projects is also increasing,” Kara continued. “We’re excited to collaborate with renewable energy developers like AES that are bringing new renewables to the grid and prioritising innovative technologies that can help accelerate those efforts.”

How did Amazon reach its 100% renewable energy goal so far ahead of time?

In 2019, Amazon set out to match 100% of the electricity consumed across its global operations — including its data centres, corporate buildings, grocery stores and fulfilment centres — with renewable energy by 2030.

Amazon’s feat of achieving this seven years ahead of schedule has been accomplished thanks to numerous factors, including it becoming the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world for four consecutive years.

This has resulted in the company investing billions of dollars in more than 500 solar and wind projects around the world, collectively generating enough energy to power the equivalent of 7.6 million US homes.

Amazon says that meeting its renewable energy goal is an important step in its efforts to meet its Climate Pledge commitment of net-zero carbon by 2040. The company’s early achievement in renewable energy alongside its ongoing sustainability efforts showcase its dedication to environmental stewardship and social responsibility. 

As mentioned above, one of the areas Amazon is powering more sustainably is its network of data centres. Amazon company Amazon Web Services (AWS) is often applauded as the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud, with it offering more than 200 fully-featured services from data centres worldwide.

As well as adopting advanced cooling techniques, optimising power usage and designing for energy efficiency to make its data centres greener, Amazon is transforming its facilities by integrating renewable energy sources and leveraging cutting-edge technologies to minimise environmental impact. 

Through strategic investments, innovative technologies and the pursuit of ambitious renewable energy goals, Amazon is setting a high standard for corporate responsibility and environmental stewardship, particularly when it comes to its data centres. 

How is Amazon preparing for future energy demands?

Thanks to further adoption of technologies like AI – which although can boost energy efficiency, is power hungry itself — there is an ever-growing need to diversify to meet future energy demands.

Doing so while remaining committed to its Climate Pledge to become net-zero carbon by 2040, there are five key ways Amazon is preparing for what the future holds for itself and its customers.

• Matching 100% of the electricity consumed by Amazon operations with renewable energy: As mentioned above, Amazon met this goal in 2023, seven years before its 2030 ambition. To achieve this, it has invested in more than 500 solar and wind projects worldwide, resulting in more than 28GW of new energy capacity when all are operational
• Advocating for grid modernisation: “One of our long-term goals is to make every electricity grid where we operate net-zero carbon for everyone,” Amazon said
• Deploying renewable energy in places that rely heavily on fossil fuels: These countries include India, Poland and southeastern states US
• Running data centres more efficiently: This follows a study by Accenture which says an effective way to minimise the impact of data centres and AI is by moving IT workloads from on-premises infrastructure to AWS data centres
• Incorporating sustainability practices into the design and construction of Amazon buildings: For example, one of Amazon’s newest Same-Day fulfilment centres in California is set to make history as the world’s first fulfilment facility to achieve Zero Carbon Certification status.

“Our teams will remain ambitious and continue to do what is right for our business, our customers and the planet,” Kara said. “That’s why we’ll continue investing in solar and wind projects — while also supporting other forms of carbon-free energy, like nuclear, battery storage and emerging technologies — that can help power our operations for decades to come.”

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