2024-07-16 23:21:20
Microsoft yesterday agreed to a record purchase of carbon credits from 1PointFive, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleumat a time when the Tech giants They fight for
reconcile their huge investments in artificial intelligence (IA) with its environmental objectives.
The agreement covers 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits over a six-year period, according to a press release from 1PointFive.
They said this is the largest purchase of CDR credits ever made using direct air carbon capture (DAC) technology. Direct capture, which extracts carbon from the atmosphere, CO2 directly from the atmosphere, has recently gained popularity among technology companies that have set ambitious goals to combat the climate change.
Microsoft and Google, in particular, have committed to achieving net-zero emissions across their operations by 2030.
“The demand for energy in the technology industry is increasing and we believe that direct air capture is ideal for eliminating residual emissions and helping to achieve climate goals,” he says. Michael Avery, director general de 1PointFive.
DAC is one of the solutions recommended by the HIM, But some experts fear it could replace the sacrifices needed to reduce emissions at source.
Amazon y 1PointFive They signed a similar agreement last year to purchase 250,000 tons of carbon credits over 10 years.
The credits Microsoft and Amazon CDRs will be generated by Stratos, 1PointFive’s first DAC plant, currently under construction in Texas.
They will allow the two world leaders in cloud computing to offset their emissions by paying the subsidiary to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it underground.
In 2023, Google’s greenhouse gas emissions will reach 14.3 million tons of CO2, an increase
48% in four years.
Microsoft’s emissions soared 29% in three years. The reason: the increasing energy requirements of data centers to train and run generative AI models (such as ChatGPT), a booming sector.
Last September, Microsoft had already signed a contract with a Californian start-up, Heirloom Carbon, for the purchase of RDF (up to 315 thousand tons of CO2) to help it meet its zero-emission ambitions.
The International Energy Agency estimates that the annual need for direct air capture will be 80 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030.
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2024-07-16 23:21:20