Sparklines
The E-Commerce Boom Doesn’t Have to Be a Climate Disaster
Trucks and data centers are energy hogs, but retailers have plenty of incentives to keep them under control.
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Since it first showed up more than two decades ago, e-commerce has slowly eaten its way into the global retail landscape a few fractions of a percentage point at a time. Hundreds of millions of consumers now buy billions of items online, which are delivered to them quickly via a sophisticated network of storage and distribution facilities. First came the shelf-stable items such as books and electronics, then food and fashion.