Our modern lives would not be possible without data centers. They are the critical infrastructure that computes and stores the data created by our digital footprints—whether we’re using social media, shopping online, banking or conducting research, somewhere a data center is processing the information in real time, and keeping that information secure.
Like most critical infrastructure, data centers need energy to operate. Amazon sits at the intersection of both. As the owner of the largest and most dynamic cloud ecosystem in the world, we’re committed to serving customers of all sizes across all industries, ensuring everyone has access to the technology they need, while also finding ways to power data centers more sustainably. This is also important to helping unlock new AI innovation and support energy independence—both of which are key to national security.
Here are four ways Amazon is working to power our data centers more sustainably:
1) Investing in nuclear and other carbon-free energy projects
Bringing new sources of carbon-free energy online, including nuclear energy, is one of the fastest ways to meet society’s growing energy needs and address climate change. We’ve invested billions in nuclear, battery storage, and renewable energy projects and technologies to date. This includes helping to develop new sources of nuclear energy, such as advanced Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology, and nuclear projects in Washington and Pennsylvania. Nuclear is a safe, and reliable energy source that can help power our operations—including data centers, bring new energy sources to our communities, and help reduce carbon emissions, which is an important part of our Climate Pledge. We’ve also supported more than 600 renewable energy projects globally, capable of producing enough energy capacity to power more than 8.3 million US homes.
2) Building data centers to be more energy efficient
From the ground to the grid, Amazon is focused on building and operating our data centers as efficiently as possible. This includes using lower-carbon concrete and steel, which reduces the embodied carbon of the building shell by 35%, using natural air flow when possible to reduce reliance on air conditioning, and transitioning to use renewable diesel to power backup generators. We are also working to optimize our water consumption, and use cloud-based technologies to analyze our water use in real-time. AWS will be water positive by 2030, returning more water to communities than it uses in its direct operations. Recent research from Accenture also estimates that using AWS’s infrastructure is up to 4.1 times more efficient than running IT workloads on-premises, and when workloads are optimized on AWS, the associated carbon footprint can be reduced by up to 99%.
3) Designing better data center hardware
We’re also designing our own purpose-built chips, servers, racks and other infrastructure to be more efficient and last longer. This includes continuously improving the power efficiency of our AWS chips. For example, AWS’s Graviton4 chip provides up to 30% better computing performance, 50% more cores, and 75% more memory bandwidth than current-generation Graviton3 processors, delivering the best price performance for a broad range of workloads running on Amazon EC2. We’re also keeping technologies in use longer by designing them better, operating them longer, and recovering more of our hardware and materials as part of our circularity efforts.
4) Working with utilities on grid modernization
Investing in our nation’s energy infrastructure is critical for the U.S. to continue to be a global leader in AI innovation. Amazon is working with utilities and grid operators to modernize the grid with advanced technologies like smart meters, grid enhancing tools, and battery storage, and urging policymakers across the country to implement policies to accelerate these efforts.
Data centers will continue to be the backbone of AI and technologies improving our daily lives, and Amazon is leading on the forefront of making them part of our society’s transition to a more sustainable future.
Learn more about Amazon’s work to support a carbon-free energy future.