Amazon Enhances Renewable Pledge: Announces Dual Australian Solar Power Ventures - Insights From ZDNet

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Amazon has announced that its two Australian-based solar farms are now up and running and delivering clean energy to the Australian grid.

The solar farms, which are based in regional New South Wales – one in Gunnedah and the other in Suntop – are expected to generate 392,000 MWh of renewable energy each year, which according to Amazon is equivalent to the annual usage of 63,000 Australian homes.

The company is also building a wind farm in the regional Victorian town of Hawkesdale. Amazon said once it is operational, the wind farm will boost the company’s combined yearly renewable energy generation to 717,000 MWh – or enough to power 115,000 Australian homes.

Amazon first made its commitment to all three renewable projects in Australia in 2020.

“Amazon is committed to investing and innovating across its businesses to help create a more sustainable future. It’s important that large companies like Amazon stimulate investment in the development of green technologies and low-carbon products and services that will be required to help companies of all sizes decarbonise their operations,” Amazon said.

“This is why we co-founded The Climate Pledge with Global Optimism, to inspire companies to commit to be net zero carbon by 2040, 10 years earlier than the Paris Agreement.”

The launch of the two solar farms form part of 310 renewable energy projects that the company is investing into across 19 countries in a bid to achieve its goal of powering its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of its original goal of 2030. Once operational, Amazon expects the 310 projects will produce 42,000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy annually.

Meanwhile, Sony has announced it wants to accelerate its achievement of carbon neutrality throughout the entire value chain by 10 years from 2050 to 2040, as well as its target for achieving 100% renewable energy in its own operations by a decade, from 2040 to 2030.

According to the company, it will speed up achieving these goals by further accelerating the installation of solar power generation equipment, introducing renewable energy through the group, accelerate initiatives to reduce annual power consumption per Sony product, work with business partners to manage their greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to removing carbon by investing in startups that are engaged in carbon removal.

“As climate change risks become more apparent and serious worldwide, and the transition to a decarbonised society has become an urgent issue, Sony made the decision to accelerate its environmental impact reduction activities in the climate change area and to bring forward the target year of achieving a zero environmental footprint in this area by ten years,” Sony said.

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