Microsoft Sustainability News, Milestones, Partnerships and Net Zero Timeline

Here are more updates....

October 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Data Centers: Microsoft is building its first datacenters made with ultra-lightweight wood in a bid to slash the use of steel and concrete, which are among the most significant sources of carbon emissions, the company said. Related: Microsoft sustainability strategy.
• AI Revenues: Microsoft's AI business is on track to surpass an annual revenue run rate of $10 billion next quarter, which will make it the fastest business in Microsoft's history to reach that milestone, CEO Satya Nadella said during the company's Q1 2025 earnings call.
• Nuclear Power: The effort to restore Unit 1 at Three Mile Island is expected to take four years, at least $1.6 billion, and thousands of workers to complete the unprecedented task of restarting a retired nuclear plant, Reuters reported. Constellation Energy is restarting the plant, which Microsoft will leverage for energy.
• Microsoft Copilot Doubts: Microsoft Copilot, the company's AI chatbot technology, is facing product quality and customer value question marks, SeekingAlpha reported.
• Cloud Services and AI: Azure is the first cloud to run Nvidia's Blackwell system, according to a Microsoft update.
• Cloud Services: Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability has gained several updates, including enhancements to (1) AI-powered analytics and reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, (2) the general availability of what-if analysis and intelligent insights, and (3) updates to Project ESG Reporting, according to a blog from Brandon Potter, director for Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability.
• Partnership - IT Consulting and Cloud Services: Infosys and Microsoft expanded their existing cloud partnership. Among the key areas of focus: The Infosys Energy Management Solution, coupled with Microsoft's commitment to sustainability, will "accelerate the net zero journey for customers," the two companies said.

September 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Green Hydrogen Data Centers: The company will leverage zero emissions green hydrogen in its data center power control and administration building in Dublin, Ireland, the software company said. The pilot project taps ESB Hydrogen Fuel Cells for power.
• Talent - Carbon Removal Expertise: Microsoft has hired Shell veteran Jessica Hinojosa as carbon removal program manager. On LinkedIn, she wrote: "I’m doubling down on my belief that the VCM [Voluntary Carbon Market] is critical to reaching any of our climate targets, and we need more ambitious movement in this space. Though it might be a little trite, I think the quote that sums it all up is the old proverb about tree planting: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
• Lessons Learned: Microsoft has introduced the Leader’s Guide to Sustainable Business Transformation, which offers "practical tips" on building a "culture and infrastructure around ESG data," and provides context for taking the Microsoft ESG Data Readiness Assessment, according to a blog from Sadie Williams, senior director of product marketing for sustainability.
• Data Centers and Gas Power Debate: Microsoft is being urged to ditch plans to power its new Wisconsin data center with gas amid fears that work on the facility could lock the US state into “30 more years of fossil fuels," Data Center Dynamics reported.
• Data Centers and Nuclear Energy: Constellation Energy and Microsoft have signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania in what would be the first-ever restart of its kind, Reuters reported. Microsoft, rivals and tech investors are exploring various nuclear energy options to power AI data centers.
• Funding: BlackRock is planning a more than $30B artificial intelligence investment fund with Microsoft to build data centers and energy projects to fill the growing demand for AI, SeekingAlpha reported.
• AI and Energy Consumption: In a blog, CTO Mark Russinovich, CTO and technical fellow for Microsoft Azure, describes how Microsoft is "advancing the power and energy efficiency of AI."
• Funding - Water Resilience: WaterEquity has raised more than $100 million for its Water & Climate Resilience Fund. The fund will invest in businesses focused on water stewardship, sustainable development, and climate resilience. Key investors include the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. Starbucks and Xylem also are strategic investors, alongside Ecolab, Reckitt, Gap Inc., and others, WaterEquity said.
• E-Waste Reduction: Microsoft is using robots to recycle hard drives and reduce e-waste.
• Talent: Microsoft has introduced a new supplier decarbonization team focused on addressing the growing carbon footprint of its cloud and AI operations, ESG Today reported. Key names to know, according to the report, include:
  • Tim Hopper, Cloud Supply Chain Sustainability Manager;
  • Ray Waweru, Senior Program Manager, Cloud Services Sustainability; and
  • Sofia Khan, Scope 3 Decarbonization.
• Data Centers and Renewable Energy Concerns: Tech giants Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta say they buy enough wind, solar or geothermal power every time a big data center comes online to cancel out its emissions, The Washington Post reports. But critics see a shell game with these contracts: The companies are operating off the same power grid as everyone else, while claiming for themselves much of the finite amount of green energy, the Post asserted. Utilities are then backfilling those purchases with fossil fuel expansions, regulatory filings show, the report claimed.

August 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Cloud Services for Energy Companies: Microsoft GM Sverre Brandsberg Dahl is touting various cloud services to help energy companies reduce their carbon emissions.
• Singapore - Solar Power: Microsoft has agreed to buy solar power generated by panels on hundreds of public housing and government-owned buildings in Singapore, Bloomberg reported.
• India - Renewable Energy Partnership: Microsoft signed a 437.6 MW green attribute contract with Indian renewable energy company ReNew, SeekingAlpha reported.
• Data Centers and Green Concrete: The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) -- collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Meta and Microsoft -- will test green concrete for data center floors.
• GenAI Data Centers and Carbon Footprints: Amazon, Microsoft and Meta are concealing their actual carbon footprints, buying credits tied to electricity use that inaccurately erase millions of tons of planet-warming emissions from their carbon accounts, a Bloomberg Green analysis alleges.
• Cloud Services and Agriculture: Microsoft is touting Azure Data Manager for Agriculture as a tool that helps farmers adopt smarter, more sustainable farming practices.
• Partnership - Solar Power: Pivot Energy will develop up to 500 megawatts (MWac) of community-scale solar energy projects across the United States between 2025 and 2029. The effort involves a renewable energy credit (REC) project with Microsoft.
• Cloud Services: Microsoft Azure Carbon Optimization, a new software tool now in preview, "equips Azure developers and IT professionals with the data and insight to optimize the carbon footprint of their cloud consumption," Microsoft said.

See next page for earlier updates...