Amazon has rapidly purchased renewable power over the last year, adding about 100 new projects and raising its portfolio to more than 33 gigawatts of generation capacity. That’s more than 10 gigawatts more than its closest competitor, Apple.
The additions make Amazon the largest corporate purchaser of renewable electricity, according to BloombergNEF. The company’s overall portfolio is roughly evenly split between utility-scale wind and solar power plants and on-site solar projects. In total, it’s enough to power 8.3 million homes, Amazon said.
Renewable energy and storage contracts have allowed Amazon to reduce its Scope 2 emissions, or emissions from the electricity it purchases, while expanding its data centers.
Still, the company has a long way to go to reduce its carbon footprint. Like many companies, the majority of Amazon’s emissions come from Scope 3, which covers activities over which the company has little control. This includes expenses such as air travel, rental buildings, and building construction.
According to Amazon’s 2023 Sustainability Report, total emissions peaked in 2021 after increasing rapidly for many years. Carbon intensity, which is greenhouse gas emissions divided by total sales, has also declined. (Carbon intensity is a metric that fast-growing organizations like because as they grow, they tend to consume more fossil fuels.) When a company invests in zero-carbon electricity, its overall carbon intensity increases. growth tends to slow down or decrease compared to emissions, indicating more positive stories).
Amazon has not yet released its 2024 sustainability report, which will provide a more complete picture of the company’s progress toward its 2040 net-zero goal.