This week, Amazon became Europe’s largest purchaser of renewable energy with 9 new wind and solar projects.
In all, the American web giant now has 206 renewable energy projects worldwide.
The group is thus one step closer to its goal of carbon neutrality by 2025.
Here’s a look at Amazon’s strategy for reducing its carbon footprint and its consequences.
Amazon, European leader in renewable energies
This week, Amazon became Europe’s leading purchaser of renewable energy (RE).
The American company confirmed this status in a press release announcing a new investment in nine solar and wind power projects.
The online retailer now has 206 renewable energy projects worldwide.
Already present in Europe, the United States (USA) and India, Amazon continues to develop solar and wind power projects in various parts of the world.
Solar farms are under construction in China, Australia and South Africa.
The company has also installed photovoltaic panels on the roofs of its data centers and Whole Foods Market stores in the USA.
A substantial new investment
Amazon has therefore chosen to invest in nine new projects in five different countries: the USA, Canada, the UK, Spain and Sweden.
These include a 350 MW wind farm on the coast of Scotland, another 258 MW onshore wind project in northern Sweden, and the first solar project in Canada.
Amazon now has a total capacity of 8.5 GW of renewable energy.
A record figure that has not failed to win praise from the environmental community.
Gregory Wetstone, President and CEO of theAmerican Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), said: “Amazon continues to play a key role in the global corporate transition to renewable energy, demonstrating that ambitious renewable energy goals are both achievable and broadly beneficial”.
Objective of 100% renewable energy by 2025
All these projects bring Amazon closer to its clean consumption goals.
In 2019, the company founded by Jeff Bezos created a commitment with Global Optimism called The Climate Pledge.
Its aim is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, 10 years ahead of theParis Agreement, which sets a target of 2050 for the global economy.
Since its creation, The Climate Pledge has been ratified by 53 major companies, including IBM, Microsoft and Unilever.
Amazon also wants its electricity mix to be 100% RE by 2025, five years earlier than the original 2030 target.
With this in mind, the American site has promised other actions to promote carbon neutrality and the use of clean energies.
In particular, the company wants to make its transport and shipping less polluting, and is aiming for 50% carbon neutrality by 2030.
Deploy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles
The web giant is also promising to purchase 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, the largest order ever.
In total, the group’s investment in the development of de-carbonization solutions amounts to two billion dollars injected into The Climate Pledge.
Once again, a record.
GAFAMs consume more than some countries
But Amazon is also turning to renewable energies because its electricity consumption has reached unprecedented levels.
The group is a member of GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft), the largest companies to dominate the digital market.
Today, these companies already consume more electricity than countries like Sri Lanka or Zambia.
These companies are therefore very energy-hungry, not least because of their data centers.
In 2018, it was already estimated that these data centers used 1% of the world’s electricity consumption.
According to estimates, they could account for 8% by 2030.
A risk for European power grids
Aware of the risks associated with its dependence on electricity, Amazon is logically turning to low-carbon electricity.
As with other GAFAM members, this decision is reflected in massive investments in renewable energy projects.
Last December, in addition to its recent commitments, Amazon signed a 650 MW renewable energy contract with the French group Engie.
The web giants also have a strong presence in Northern European wind farms, and this is not without consequences.
The various countries in the region fear an increase in demand for electricity, which would almost be privatized by the GAFAMs.
The Irish group EirGrid estimates that the increase in data centers could create electricity shortages as early as 2026.
In short, the deployment of renewable energies for GAFAM creates a risk for European electricity grids.
Amazon’s de-carbonization is therefore a key issue not only for the energy transition, but also for global electricity consumption.
