Microsoft Sustainability News, Milestones, Partnerships and Net Zero Timeline

Here are more updates....

December 2023: Software, Research

Multiple updates...

• Renewable Energy - IT Services and Software Partnership: Enerjisa Üretim -- a renewable energy power company in Istanbul, Turkey -- will leverage Senkron.Energy's digital services and Microsoft technologies for AI-powered renewable power generation.
• Windows 10 PCs and E-Waste: Roughly 240 million PCs could become e-waste when Microsoft ends Windows 10 support in October 2025, Canalys estimates. Google is pitching ChromeOS as a Windows 10 replacement than can run on most x86 devices.
• Taiwan: Microsoft Taiwan introduced a new carbon management platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Radio Taiwan International reported. The platform, called iCX (Intelligent Carbon Exchange), is designed to help SMEs reduce their carbon emissions and comply with international standards. Key partners include PwC in Taiwan.
• Partnership - Clean Energy Marketplace: LevelTen Energy has launched the Granular Certificate (GC) Trading Alliance -- a collaboration with AES, Constellation, Google, and Microsoft to "build the market infrastructure needed to scale time- and location-based carbon-free energy" for power purchase agreements (PPAs).
• Climate Startups: The company and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) brought 10 sustainability and climate tech startups to COP28. The goal: Showcase how "their innovative solutions are tackling the most pressing challenges resulting from climate change," Microsoft said. The startups included Tomorrow IO, Mitiga Solutions, SEaB Power, Agritrack, Satavia, Nearthlab, Takachar, Cleantech Hub Grounds, Tespak, and Sustainable Planet. The startups are part of the 4th Cohort of the GrowthX Accelerator program, which empowers growth-stage B2B startups ranging primarily from the Seed to Series A stages, Microsoft and ADIO said.
• AI and Emissions Data: Microsoft Sustainability Manager is set to gain AI capabilities that will allow users to "perform deeper analysis on their emissions data."
• Research: While 85% of organizations place a high strategic level of importance on achieving their sustainability goals, only 16% have integrated sustainability into their strategies and data, according to research findings from the software company, plus Kyndryl and Ecosystm.

November 2023: Microsoft Sustainability Software and Right to Repair

Multiple updates...

• Carbon Cost Software: Microsoft Sustainability Manager has a new feature called Carbon fee. The feature, available in preview now, allows organizations to set an internal price (or a “tax”) on their own carbon emissions and encourage substantive reductions, according to Shefy Manayil Kareem, general manage of Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability.
• Microsoft Surface - Right to Repair: Replacement components for Microsoft Surface devices will now be available directly from iFixit. "This builds upon our collaboration with iFixit to make our products more repairable and will complement our growing network of Authorized Service Providers," the technology giant said.

October 2023: Sustainability Strategy, Milestones, Partnerships and Investments

Multiple updates...

• Australia: The software company will invest A$5 billion in expanding its hyperscale cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Australia over the next two years, Microsoft said. On the data center sustainability front, "Microsoft will ensure that its new data centres in Australia help meet the company’s sustainability goals of being carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030. This includes using low-carbon materials during construction, as well as using renewable energy, advanced water-cooling features and measures to decrease diesel fuel use during operation," the company said.
• Artificial Intelligence: Microsoft believes AI can be a "powerful accelerant in addressing climate crisis," CEO Satya Nadella wrote in his annual letter to Microsoft shareholders.
• IT Consulting Partnership: EY expanded its technology and sustainability partnerships with Microsoft and SAP.

September 2023: Sustainability Strategy, Milestones, Partnerships and Investments

Multiple updates...

• Green Data Center Hub: Danfoss, Google, Microsoft and Schneider Electric launched the Net Zero Innovation Hub For Data Centers. The hub, based in Fredericia, Denmark, will "bring together the data center sector across Europe to find concrete solutions to accelerate the green transition," the founders said.
• ESG and Sustainability Training: KPMG, leveraging Microsoft Cloud, launched the ESG and Sustainability Training And Education Platform.
• Singapore: Microsoft and Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced digital sustainability guidelines to "accelerate education and awareness among businesses and developers, as they build sustainable applications by design." The guidelines were created with support from the Green Software Foundation (GSF).
• Data Centers - Nuclear Power: Microsoft wants to integrate advanced nuclear technology into powering its data centers, according to a job posting from the cloud services and software giant.
• Data Centers: ENGIE Energy Marketing inked an agreement to provide renewable energy to cover the consumption of select Microsoft data centers in Texas. The collaboration will accelerate Microsoft’s mission to transition to 100% carbon-free energy on an hourly basis by 2030, the companies said.
• AI and Data Center Water Consumption: Microsoft consumed 6.4 million cubic meters of water in 2022, primarily for its cloud data centers. That represents a 34 percent jump over the year before, with generative AI workloads believed to be at least partially to blame, Data Center Dynamics reported.
• Partnership - Cloud Services and Artificial Intelligence:  G42 and Microsoft announced plan to offer sovereign cloud services, AI capabilities and data center infrastructure in the UAE. Much of the announcement focused on sustainability. G42 is a technology holding group focused on AI technologies. The partnership surfaces a few months before COP28 starts in the UAE.
• Cloud Application Partnership: Global IT consulting firm Accenture, working closely with Microsoft, has developed a cloud-based application for energy companies that are seeking to manage methane gas emissions.

See next page for earlier updates...