Amazon, the popular online retailer, has come under scrutiny for its significant contribution to pollution. According to a report by The Eco Experts, Amazon’s carbon emissions exceed those of many entire countries, contributing to the planet’s overheating. A recent article in Business Insider sheds light on another source of pollution from Amazon: its data centers.
What are data centers?
Data centers are physical facilities that house computer hardware essential for various aspects of modern society, including data storage, network equipment, e-commerce, video streaming, and artificial intelligence.
Business Insider reports that Amazon is currently developing data centers worth a staggering $87 billion. These unassuming warehouse-like structures can often go unnoticed along highways or in suburban neighborhoods.
Why do data centers cause significant pollution?
Business Insider explains that data centers consume vast amounts of power, straining energy grids and exacerbating the climate crisis. The report reveals that Amazon operates or plans to build 102 data centers in northern Virginia alone. The energy required to run these centers surpasses the energy consumption of the entire city of Seattle.
Furthermore, the demand for such immense power is diverting energy companies away from clean energy solutions like wind and solar. These renewable sources cannot scale up quickly enough to meet the massive energy demands. Dominion Energy, for instance, recently proposed canceling the retirement of dirty energy infrastructure and constructing new gas-burning plants to meet the growing demand.
Is Amazon taking steps to reduce its pollution?
Despite Amazon’s claims of being an environmentally responsible company, recent actions suggest otherwise. The company reneged on its promise to make half of its shipments carbon neutral by 2030, drawing criticism from internet users. However, governments and regulators have shown little reaction to Amazon’s practices, allowing the company to continue operating without significant consequences.
Regarding data centers, Business Insider reveals that Amazon uses Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to manipulate its environmental impact reports. However, experts argue that RECs have been misused and do not accurately represent sustainability. Ben Hertz-Shargel, an executive at the energy-research and consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie, expressed concerns about the misleading nature of using RECs.
While Amazon makes some efforts towards environmentalism, such as reducing plastic packaging and electrifying parts of its delivery fleet, it simultaneously destroys millions of unsold products, consumes energy equivalent to entire cities daily, and emits greenhouse gases equivalent to entire countries annually.
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