Microsoft in Mega Carbon Deal as AI Power Demands Surge – FT

US tech giant Microsoft has agreed a multi-million dollar carbon credit deal with oil producer Occidental as it scrabbles to meet its climate pledges amid worries over the power demands of artificial intelligence, the Financial Times reported.

Occidental will sell 500,000 carbon credits to Microsoft over six years, under an agreement announced last week, allowing Microsoft to offset its emissions by paying the oil firm to have the carbon removed from the atmosphere and stored underground, the FT story went on.

Big Tech is struggling to cope with a drastic rise in energy emissions driven by AI expansion and Microsoft admitted in May that its emissions had risen by almost a third since 2020, due in most part to the construction of data centres.

But the use of carbon credits to meet climate goals has come under criticism because of concerns over how to verify claims about how much carbon is removed by new projects.

Read the full story: The Financial Times

Also on AF:

A European Push Could Help India Fill Carbon Removal Gaps

Carbon Removal Could Rake in $100 Billion Annually From 2030

China Plans New Way to Measure Products’ Carbon Footprint

Scientists Build Carbon-Consuming Electricity Generator – ABC