Amazon ditches diesel for vegetable oil to fire up its European data hubs

E-commerce Amazon has confirmed that its Amazon Web Services (AWS) business has started to transition from diesel to hydrotreated vegetable oil in order to fire up generators across its European data centres.

Kicking off with its hubs in Sweden and Ireland, AWS said it is working to reduce its carbon footprint by 90% in the years to come. 

The Amazon business said it plans to roll out the new strategy across all of its European data facilities by 2040, as part of its net zero efforts. 

HVO is a renewable biofuel made from processing vegetable and waste cooking oils, requiring no generator modifications and remaining stable in cold temperatures. 

It has been reported that some of Amazon's biggest rivals, such as Microsoft and Google, are looking into similar initiatives.