Amazon has also been overhauling its supply chain fleet, investing in electric vehicles as part of a goal to get 100,00 electric-powered delivery vehicles on the road by 2030. The effort rolled out in 2022, and so far more than 10,000 vehicles are on U.S. roads today, spanning 1,800 cities and having delivered 260 million packages.
The vans from Rivian are equipped with a suite of safety features and are embedded with tech that integrated the delivery workflow so drivers can easily access routing and navigation support. As part of the initiative, Amazon has installed over 12,000 chargers across 100 delivery stations in the U.S.
Other related transportation overhauls include custom EV vans launching in Germany, and the company is investing in other modes of delivery such as e-cargo bikes and e-rickshaws, to test and learn across the U.S., the European Union, and India. Additionally, the company is working on solutions like green hydrogen and ultra-low carbon electrofuels.
Data Centers Getting Sustainability Boost
Amazon-owned AWS is embedding sustainability strategies into its data centers to lower carbon usage related to construction. The company is using lower-carbon concrete and steel when constructing data centers.
So far, the company has saved more than 22,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from constructing 27 data centers using these materials. The construction industry accounts for around 11% of global emissions.
AWS is also encouraging its suppliers to implement similar efforts into their value chains, touting the benefits of eco-friendly steel. By incorporating higher-strength steel into its structural designs, AWS achieved a weight reduction of 70 tons of steel for each two-story data center.
In order to further end-to-end, value chain progress, the company has invested in a couple of early-stage companies: Brimstone, which is developing the first carbon negative process for cement manufacturing, and Electra, which is manufacturing iron at lower temperatures, leveraging low-grade iron ores and renewable energy.