Clean power boost from Amazon’s first climate fund investments
Amazon has announced the first recipients of investments its $2bn Climate Pledge Fund. The investments include electric vans, battery recycling and high efficiency motors to benefit various parts of Amazon’s business.
“The Climate Pledge Fund invests in visionary companies whose products and services can empower a low carbon economy,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “We are investing in a group of companies that are channeling their entrepreneurial energy into helping Amazon and other companies reach net zero by 2040 and keep the planet safer for future generations.”
Redwood Materials is developing and commercializing a full process and suite of technologies for recycling end-of-life Lithium-ion batteries and e-waste into high value metals and chemicals. Redwood Materials will help Amazon properly recycle Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries and reuse their components. Redwood Materials can also help recycle the lithium batteries and e-waste from other parts of Amazon’s businesses.
“To fight climate change, we need to solve the impact products have on the environment. We’re honored to be part of the Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and to build the closed-loop supply chain that will recycle batteries, electronics and other end of life products for Amazon,” said JB Straubel, Redwood Materials Co-founder and CEO.
Turntide Technologies develops motors that use 64 percent less energy on average by optimizing efficiency and control without using expensive materials or rare earth minerals. Amazon is piloting Turntide’s motors in a number of its buildings and the results so far have demonstrated significantly reduced electricity usage.
“Electric motors consume half the world’s electricity, making them one of the largest contributors to climate change,” said Ryan Morris, Turntide Technologies Chairman and CEO. “Today, 98% of motors are based on an 1888 design by Nikola Tesla but have been difficult to improve without resorting to expensive materials, including rare earth minerals. Turntide’s mission is to replace the world’s electric motors with optimal efficiency motor systems, an essential step to help companies decrease their carbon footprint and reach their goal of net zero carbon.”
As part of The Climate Pledge announcement in 2019, Amazon said it had ordered 100,000 EVs from Rivian, with plans to have 10,000 of the new electric vehicles on the road by 2022 and all 100,000 vehicles on the road by 2030. The Climate Pledge Fund participated in Rivian’s latest investment round in July, and with proceeds from that investment, Rivian is further developing and integrating its connected electric platform with Amazon’s last mile delivery network.
The other two investments are for CarbonCure Technologies, which has commercialized a portfolio of carbon removal technologies that consume carbon dioxide (CO2) in concrete during production, and Pachama which develops technology to verify the impact of carbon capture in the world’s forests.
sustainability.aboutamazon.com/about/climate-pledge-fund
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