Amazon is the world’s largest cloud service

[RE100 fact check on Amazon]

Amazon is the world’s largest cloud service provider, and as a single company, it has the most contracts to purchase renewable energy worldwide.

However, Amazon is not a company that has joined the global RE100 movement led by CDP and Climate Group.

The goal of the CDP-led RE100 movement is “decarbonization of the grid by 2040” and uses the methodology of voluntary declaration and monitoring for that purpose. It’s like telling your friends, “I’m going to lose 5kg by the end of the year, keep an eye on me!” I won’t pay a fine for not losing weight, but I get humiliated by my friends.

Some companies set their own goals and buy renewable energy. They do so in terms of cost savings, tax cuts, and public relations activities. They refrain from making external “commitments” as much as possible. This is because there are cases where using renewable energy does not help companies. Amazon’s attitude toward renewable energy is quite flexible. This year, Amazon’s priority is to build a data center and secure the power it needs in accordance with the AI boom, followed by purchasing renewable energy.

Since companies that have joined CDP’s RE100 movement must use renewable energy for their activities, it is strictly outside the scope of the RE100 movement to require the same use of renewable energy from parts suppliers or partners. It is purely part of the company’s purchasing policy. Apple is a representative company. By 2030, Apple has declared that it will be able to decarbonize the entire supply chain and achieve RE100 of its own. It is a management strategy decision to maintain the premium image. This is far beyond the goal of the RE100 movement because it aims to make the iPhone 100% renewable and renewable materials to zero carbon emissions.

RE100 acts as a trade barrier as a matter of whether it delivers to a specific buyer or not, and as a relative matter of how strong customers it deals with (e.g., Apple). The real trade barrier at the national level in the future is the difference in carbon emissions. If Korean products emit more carbon per unit on average, they have to pay additional tariffs. Europe officially started its carbon tariff policy, and other countries such as the U.S. and China are also considering it. The cause of the climate crisis response is also in the right direction.

In other words, at the national level, carbon emissions per GDP should be monitored as an indicator, and carbon emissions at the power grid level should be viewed sensitively. At the individual corporate level, strategies should be established to see which buyers are sensitive to carbon emissions and renewable energy use.

RE100 can help export and attract companies, but there are many more important conditions than this. Of course, the cost/quality/design must be excellent, and it is carbon emissions that will be fined later. Not all exporters are a problem because they do not do RE100 nationally. For example, steel and oil refining industries are irrelevant to RE100, and carbon emission management is important.

Taiwan’s case of developing a large-scale offshore wind farm at the national level should be thoroughly benchmarked to solve the RE100 problem (Apple’s demand) of a nationally important company called TSMC. If the RE100 problem is put in the energy strategy of the entire country, both will be twisted. What is needed now is a large-scale renewable energy generation complex for semiconductor factories that must be approached and solved outside the framework of the existing power industry.

In order to solve complex problems, you must first look closely and grasp them accurately.

(What if the RE100 movement rather interferes with decarbonizing certain electrical grids? To be continued)