They may not shout about it much, but Amazon Web Services Inc. is committed to green energy. The company is aiming to be 100% powered by renewable sources by 2025 and to reduce its carbon footprint to zero by 2040.

Supporting these goals, AWS re:Invent 2020 saw the announcement of 26 new renewable energy projects.

“The announcements collectively last week, along with what we’ve already announced previously in renewable energy projects, now makes us the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world,” said Shannon Kellogg (pictured, right), vice president of AWS public policy, Americas, at Amazon.

Kellogg; and Gregory Wetstone (pictured, middle), president and chief executive officer at the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE); and Colleen Pickford (pictured, left), executive vice president at ACORE, joined John Walls, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during AWS re:Invent. They discussed the importance of sustainable energy policy. (* Disclosure below.)

Accelerate program promotes sustainability and diversity

Alongside re:Invent’s renewable energy announcements came the launch of the Accelerate membership program. A joint AWS and ACORE initiative, Accelerate offers smaller, minority-led businesses with a focus on renewable energy a two-year free membership to ACORE. This brings benefits that include access to ACORE’s services, industry developments, and networking connections.

“This is just a fantastic opportunity to assist companies and organizations that are just getting started,” Kellogg stated. “It encourages innovation; it encourages diversity and inclusion.”

ACORE recognizes that the renewable energy sector does not yet look like America looks and that’s something the organization is trying to achieve, according to Wetstone. “We want to help those small companies become bigger, grow the sector, and help enhance the leadership in this sector from underrepresented communities,” he said.

The visibility of a large company like Amazon has encouraged others to support the Accelerate program, Wetstone added.

“Amazon has been a member of our board for a number of years now. Their commitment to the industry is clear,” Pickford stated.

With President-elect Biden promising a renewed focus on the environment, Wetstone feels optimistic about the future for sustainable energy in the United States. But, while the renewable energy sector has been growing “at a booming pace,” the world is still a long way from halting the effects of climate change, he said.

“We can get there, but we know we’ve got to step it up,” Wetstone said. “As much as we’ve been growing, as successful as we’ve been, it’s not enough.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent. (* Disclosure: Amazon Web Services Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither AWS nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE