Topline<\/p>\n
Microsoft on Thursday reported its carbon emissions swelled last year as the software giant built new data centers, marking a setback for its climate goals as booming AI demand is expected to drive a sharp increase in global emissions over the next decade.<\/p>\n
Demand for AI is expanding, but sustainability solutions are \u201cnot scaling fast enough,\u201d Microsoft reported.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Key Facts<\/p>\n
Microsoft emitted 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent\u2014a measurement of all greenhouse gases as if they were carbon dioxide\u2014last year, a 25% increase from the 16 million metric tons emitted in 2024, the company said in its annual sustainability report<\/a>.<\/p>\n Microsoft President Brad Smith and Chief Sustainability Officer Melanie Nakagawa said in the report that while AI infrastructure is driving demand for energy, water, land and materials, \u201csustainability solutions are not scaling fast enough to meet demand,\u201d noting, \u201cThis tension is real, and it is also productive.\u201d <\/p>\n The company also said its reported emissions were affected by a decision to pause purchases of renewable energy credits, which firms use to offset emissions associated with electricity use.<\/p>\n big number<\/p>\n 300 million metric tons. That\u2019s the amount of global carbon dioxide emissions from data center electricity use the International Energy Agency expects<\/a> by 2035, nearly doubling from 180 million tons today.<\/p>\n tangent<\/p>\n Officials in Cheyenne, Wyoming, have reportedly<\/a> traced the construction of a Wyoming-based data center for Meta to a rare bacterium found in the city\u2019s wastewater treatment center. The bacterium did not enter the city\u2019s drinking supply, and the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities said it would pause accepting industrial water discharge from any data center.<\/p>\n key background<\/p>\n Microsoft pledged in 2020 to pull more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits by 2030, but its goal has seemingly hit a roadblock in recent years as companies sparked a frenzy building AI infrastructure. Microsoft has announced several data center projects over the last year, including a $3 billion site in Wisconsin the company claims will be the most advanced AI data center in the world, the Wall Street Journal reported<\/a>. Other tech giants have pointed to surging AI demand as driving an increase in carbon emissions: Alphabet reported a 48% increase in emissions from 2019 to 2024, citing an uptick in data center operations and growing demand for AI products. The Google parent acquired<\/a> the clean energy startup Intersect Power in December as it planned to rely on renewable energy for data center projects. <\/p>\n