Amazon's fulfillment centers will soon run on solar energy

Our president might not believe in climate change, but Amazon does.

The tech giant on Thursday announced a new commitment to clean energy. Amazon will install solar panels on 15 of its U.S. fulfillment centers this year, and 50 worldwide by 2020.

Amazon's solar panels at centers in California, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada and New Jersey could power up to 80 percent of the energy needed at each fulfillment center.

Amazon has other renewable energy projects in the works, too. The tech company operates wind and solar farms in Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia to power its Amazon Web Services data centers. Smaller rooftops on regular office buildings have also been converted to green energy.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

“As our fulfillment network continues to expand, we want to help generate more renewable energy at both existing and new facilities around the world in partnership with community and business leaders,” Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, said in a statement. “We are putting our scale and inventive culture to work on sustainability—this is good for the environment, our business and our customers. By diversifying our energy portfolio, we can keep business costs low and pass along further savings to customers. It’s a win-win.”

Other major tech companies have already committed to clean energy projects. Google promised in December that its data centers and offices would use 100 percent renewable energy in 2017. Apple powers its data centers, offices and retail stores with renewable energy, and said last September that the company would work to reduce carbon emissions from its factories.