Climate change has become a pressing concern in recent years as people continue to pay the price for rising carbon footprint that has resulted in adversities like heatwaves, increasing sea levels, forest fires and accelerated natural resource depletion.

Sustainable practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century are undoubtedly a priority for most industries. The technology sector is helping many companies reduce carbon footprint through meaningful solutions. Players in the technology space are harnessing digital advancements to support climate action goals.

Leading technology companies including Amazon have committed to 100% renewable electricity.

Connected technologies are helping enterprises utilize renewable resources efficiently and thereby maintain a tab on power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio.

Further, smart grids are helping companies to better balance the demand for renewable energy with supply. Technology is also helping to make autonomous vehicles the norm, thereby reducing air pollution.

In light of the aforementioned facts, here we discuss some of the super majors that uphold environment-friendly operational standards and are setting new highs in the area of sustainability.

Year-to-Date Price Performance

Stocks in Focus

Amazon AMZN has long been increasing investments and expanding renewable foothold.

The company’s strengthening carbon neutrality initiatives remain noteworthy. It is set to create $2-billion venture-capital fund in a bid to focus on technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the latest move, the e-commerce giant recently announced four new renewable projects in Australia, Spain, Sweden, and the United States, which are expected to generate 300 megawatts and 840k megawatt hour of extra clean energy and renewable capacity, respectively.

Moreover, the company’s purchase order for 100,000 electric delivery trucks from Rivian remains a major positive. These emission-free vehicles will reduce carbon footprint further.

The total number of launched utility-scale wind and solar renewable energy projects of Amazon stands at 31 to date. Moreover, the total number of installed solar rooftops on fulfillment centers and sort centers stands at 60.

Since 2015, the company has reduced the weight of outbound packaging by 33% and eliminated more than 880,000 tons of packaging material.

Further, it has 91 renewable energy projects globally.

Microsoft MSFT has remained committed toward making its data centers run on renewable energy sources. In January, the company announced a new $1-billion climate innovation fund to accelerate the global development of carbon reduction, capture and removal technologies.

Earlier, it inked two power purchase agreements with EDP Renewables North America LLC to work on a wind energy project based out of Paulding County, OH.

In addition, Microsoft joined Sony and Amazon in adopting environment-friendly approaches in the consoles front.

Alphabet’s GOOGL Google upholds strong commitment toward developing leading solutions for reducing emissions. According to a report from TechRepublic, Google’s decision to operate on 100% clean energy helps in taking away 5 million tons of carbon emissions from the atmosphere each year.

The company is utilizing AI capabilities to control data center cooling requirements and keep PUE low. The company has also come up with a new accelerator program for encouraging startups to adopt sustainability products. The company’s aggressive three-fold strategy — which includes energy efficiency, renewable energy procurement and carbon offsets — is a testament to the commitment of carbon neutrality.

Apple AAPL is one of the few technology companies that have gone to great lengths to raise awareness regarding the environment. The company focuses on 100% renewable energy to power data centers.

Moreover, Apple remains committed toward the Zero Waste to Landfill initiative. The company highlights that all the final assembly sites for devices — including iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watches to name a few — are certified with Zero Waste to Landfill. The move is helping it conserve billions of gallons of water, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Conclusion

The race for green energy is gaining momentum. However, the transition from conventional energy sources will largely depend on how governments, companies and societies embrace the fundamental changes in the system.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

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