Microsoft announced Thursday that it bought more than 7 million tonnes of carbon carbon credits.
The 25 -year -old agreement would allow the chestnut carbon to re -see 60,000 acres of land in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, Axios reported. Recently, the technology company has struggled to curb its carbon emissions while AI has led to an increase in construction and use of the data center.
Microsoft reported last year that its emissions had increased by 29% since 2020 following the BOMOM of AI and Cloud Computing, endangering its 2030 objective to kidnap more carbon than it produces . In 2023, the company said it generated 17.1 million tonnes greenhouse gas emissions before compensation.
Carbon credits are available in a range of flavors. Carbon chestnut focuses on reforestation, in which the company facilitates the planting of trees, then monitors the new forests to ensure that they grow as expected and are not cut. The company currently has eight projects in the southeast of the United States, which were previously worked as farms or pastures.
The trees naturally sequests carbon as they grow, although all the carbon credits linked to the forests are not created equal. Project credits that plant non -native and rapidly growing trees are generally considered to be a lower quality and are sold less because they do not tend to support so much biodiversity, and trees do not tend to live so long . Projects that support various native plantations are generally sold to a bonus, because the resulting ecosystems tend to be more resilient over time.
Even the premium carbon credits of the afforestation, reforestation and deforestation avoided are a relative agreement compared to certain alternatives. Chestnut Carbon sold credits last year for $ 34 per tonne, while direct air capture, which uses fans and chemicals to draw Co2 Outside the atmosphere costs $ 600 at $ 1,000 per tonne today. Despite the cost differential, Microsoft also bought carbon credits from direct air capture startups.
For all their forces, carbon credits based on nature are not always perfect. Will have, who has the largest carbon credit portfolio based on nature, has been the subject of a in -depth investigation In 2023, which reported that the organization had overestimated the climatic advantages of its projects. The scandal led to Eviction of the CEO And had the industry reassess the standards it uses. Chestnut Carbon, who used to use to certify his carbon credits, now uses Gold Standard.
