Intro
Microsoft released its 2024 Environmental Sustainability report to highlight the progress made since the company committed to achieve carbon negativity, water positivity, zero waste, and environmental protection by 2030.
Microsoft Technology Challenges and Solutions
The company says emerging technologies, such as generative AI, offer promising innovations to tackle the climate crisis.
Microsoft’s carbon neutrality strategy focuses on three areas, which include reducing carbon emissions, increasing carbon-free electricity, and carbon removal.
Zero waste encompasses reducing waste in campuses and data centers that promote circular cloud hardware and enhancing device circularity. This resulted in an 89.4% reuse and recycle rate for servers and components across all the company’s cloud hardware.
Microsoft’s datacenter strategy plans to achieve a 40% water intensity reduction target by 2030. It continues to design and innovate to minimize water usage and improve the relationship between AI growth and resource consumption.
Data Center Design
Microsoft monitors water withdrawal and discharge in its data centers to track water consumption through advanced prediction models that use real-time weather data to forecast water usage. By comparing these anticipated values with actual consumption, data center operators can identify operational inefficiencies and implement advanced troubleshooting solutions.
Modern data centers are designed and optimized for AI workloads which will consume zero water for cooling. This initiative aims to reduce global reliance on freshwater resources as the demand for AI computing increases.
"As a global technology provider, we also believe we have a role to play in supporting the thousands of customers and partners who put their trust in Microsoft. We think about Microsoft’s role in sustainability through three spheres of influence: Microsoft sustainability, customer sustainability, and global sustainability.”
AI Sustainability Innovation
Microsoft has released a new playbook titled “Accelerating Sustainability with AI.” This document outlines key policy principles for governing AI that aligns with sustainability goals.
It came as the European Union was shaping the AI Act and introducing key sustainability performance indicators for data centers from the Delegated Act on the Energy Efficiency Directive. The primary goal is to include AI in these frameworks and encourage its use to achieve sustainability outcomes.
The European Commission adopted a new delegated regulation on the first phase for establishing an EU-wide scheme to rate the sustainability of EU data centers. As foreseen under the new, recast Energy Efficiency Directive, this secondary legislation requires data center operators to report the key performance indicators to the European database by 15 September 2024 and then by 15 May in 2025 and subsequent years.
Microsoft has partnered with the UNFCCC at COP28 in Dubai to development and implementation new systems and tools to operationalize the Enhanced Transparency Framework under the Paris Agreement. By leveraging AI and data analytics, this partnership aims to enhance the UNFCCC’s ability to provide transparency, accountability, and reporting on climate change commitments.
Serverfarm Data Center Sustainability
Serverfarm’s sustainability objectives sit at the core of its business strategy in acquisition, modernization, expansion, development and day to day operation.
Serverfarm sustainable data centers begin with location choices and power purchasing agreements for minimum carbon cost.
Through acquisition, upgrades and modernization of existing data centers the company provides digital infrastructure at the lowest possible embodied carbon cost.
Serverfarm builds new data centers in response to market demand using modern designs with sustainable construction methods and materials.
Our sustainable power strategy spans renewable clean energy Power Purchasing Agreements, local microgrids, clean fuels and low carbon energy storage.
Serverfarm aligns with customer net zero targets and sustainability objectives.