FT.com: “By its own account, Amazon is a green business leader. The world’s most visited online marketplace and leading cloud services provider says it hit its 100 per cent renewable energy goal seven years ahead of a self-imposed target. But by another, Amazon is a heavy polluter, emitting much more climate-warming greenhouse gases through its electricity usage than cloud computing rivals. In the US, Amazon’s vast home market, fossil fuels accounted for about 60 per cent of electricity generation in 2023. The company can be presented as either hero or villain because of the rules on how greenhouse gas emissions are calculated, whereby companies can use investments in clean power schemes to offset their real-world, energy-related emissions. Social media group Meta, for instance, says it has already hit “net zero” emissions in its energy usage. But FT analysis of its 2023 sustainability report shows that its real-world CO₂ emissions from power consumption the prior year were 3.9mn tonnes, compared to the 273 net tonnes cited in the report.”