- Microsoft will buy 3.685 million tonnes of carbon elimination credits over 12 years
- Carbon will be captured from paste and paper grinding stations
- It will be permanently stored in saline aquifers
Microsoft has confirmed its intention to buy 3.685 million metric tonnes of CO280 carbon elimination credits as part of an agreement that will last 12 years.
Should start in 2028, the project will be located at the Gulf Coast Pulp and Paper Mills and will cover the programs of the first CO280 carbon capture project.
It is likely to be one of the largest purchases of elimination of engineering carbon to date, it will help Microsoft to become the negative carbon by 2030 and to continue its trip in the following years.
Microsoft signs a 12 -year agreement for the elimination of carbon
Microsoft already uses a mixture of renewable energy credits and carbon elimination to achieve its climatic objectives, but many things have changed in recent years with an increase in the demand for artificial intelligence, which is built on the swallowed basis of power and resources of enormous data centers.
The company was frank on these challenges, noting that greenhouse gas emissions increased. In 2023, Microsoft produced 17.2 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas 1, 2 and 3, against 16.5 million, 14.4 million and 12.3 million metric tonnes in the previous three years.
It is difficult to say if the company is on the right track to respect its 2030 deadline given the rapid technology rate, but its longer -term plans are to remove all historic emissions since its foundation in 1975.
The CO280 strategy involves the modernization of pulp and paper mills with carbon capture systems based on amine -based capture technology, permanently storing carbon underground in saline aquifers.
“The CO280 strategy consisting in adding carbon elimination to existing paper factories is an effective way to quickly put carbon elimination and strengthen investments and jobs in Timberland communities across the United States,” said Brian Marrs, main director of energy and carbon for Microsoft.
More broadly, Microsoft has other sustainability plans to minimize its footprint worldwide, in particular by buying 1.5 million tonnes in credits via a afforestation project in India, 1.6 million tonnes in credits over 30 years in Panama and more than seven million tonnes in credits over 25 years with Chestnut carbon, based in New York.
