Amazon is “distorting the truth” about how many of its data centers are powered by renewable energy, according to a group of the company’s employees.

Last week the company said in its ESG report that its operations are run entirely on renewable sources of power, something it had achieved seven years ahead of schedule. However, pressure group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) said its research shows that just 22 percent of power used by the company's data centers is from renewables.

“Amazon is distorting the truth with this announcement that hides the fact that its energy-hungry data centers operate in the heart of coal country, and the company’s expansion is driving up demand for more oil and gas,” a statement from AECJ said.

The AECJ’s contention stems from the fact that Amazon, like many large organizations, says it is moving towards net zero by buying Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), which are said to offset the carbon emissions associated with fossil fuel-based electricity it uses.

However, AECJ says its research shows that 68 percent of Amazon’s REC purchases are “low-quality and do nothing to build new, additional renewable energy.” These credits, the group claims, “simply trade around paper claims on electricity that other people already generated and consumed.”

Concerns about the usefulness of RECs in fighting climate change have led to some companies committing to 24x7 power purchase agreements (PPAs), which ensure that any clean energy paid for is matched by metered electricity used by a large consumer; Google and Microsoft have both signed of these PPAs and have committed to more in future, but Amazon has yet to do so.

AECJ adds that the company is “investing in data center expansion in locations heavily dependent on oil, gas, and coal—like Northern Virginia and Saudi Arabia.”

Amazon said in March it would spend up to $5.3 billion launching an AWS cloud zone in Saudi Arabia, with three separate data centers.

The AECJ statement includes anonymous quotes from several Amazon staff members, including an AWS software engineer who said: “I’m just starting to wonder, is Amazon purposefully lying to all of us? It seems like they send us photos of shiny solar farms to make us think, ‘Oh, Amazon must be doing pretty good at sustainability’.”

They added: “Amazon should at least be honest with us, its own employees, about the actual progress we’re making toward the Climate Pledge. We need to know the truth so we can do better.”

AECJ, which in 2019 organized a staff walk-out in protest at the company’s inaction on the climate crisis, is calling for Amazon to make major investments in new renewable energy in the same regions where data centers are projected to grow.

“Employees also point out that despite the dozens of pages in Amazon’s newest sustainability report, the fact remains that there is no comprehensive plan to actually achieve the company’s goal of net zero emissions by 2040,” the group said.

An Amazon spokesperson said: “Amazon’s sustainability report has the correct data, transparent published methodologies, and third-party assurance. The paper you’re referring [to] has incorrect findings and assumptions, likely because, as its authors admit, it’s based on data and opinion from outside the company.”