- Microsoft will buy 3,685 million tons of carbon elimination credits for 12 years
- Carbon will be captured in pulp and paper milling stations
- It will be permanently stored in saline aquifers
Microsoft has confirmed plans to buy 3,685 million metric tons of CO280 carbon elimination loans as part of an agreement that will last 12 years.
It is expected to begin in 2028, the project will be located in Gulf Coast Pulp and Paper Mills and will cover the emissions of the first CO80 carbon capture project.
It is likely to be one of the largest engineering carbon elimination purchases to date, it will help Microsoft to become a negative carbon by 2030 and continue their trip in the following years.
Microsoft signs a 12 -year agreement for carbon elimination
Microsoft already uses a combination of renewable energy and carbon elimination credits to achieve its climatic objectives, however, much has changed in recent years with an increase in the demand for artificial intelligence, which is based on the hungry base of power and resources of large data centers.
The company has been sincere about these challenges, noting that greenhouse gas emissions have been increasing. In 2023, Microsoft produced 17.2 million metric tons of 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gases, compared to 16.5 million, 14.4 million and 12.3 million metric tons in the previous three years.
It is difficult to say if the company is on the way to fulfill its deadline of 2030 given the technology rate that advances rapidly, however, its longest plans are to eliminate all historical emissions since its foundation in 1975.
The CO280 strategy implies the modernization of the pulp and paper factories with carbon capture systems based on amine -based capture technology, permanently storing carbon under ground in saline aquifers.
“The CO280 strategy of adding carbon elimination to existing paper factories is an efficient way of rapidly climbing carbon elimination and strengthening investment and jobs in Timberland communities in the United States,” said Energy & Carbon Retval Director of Microsoft Brian Marrs.
In more general terms, Microsoft has other sustainability plans to minimize its fingerprint worldwide, including the purchase of 1.5 million tons in credits through a forestry project in India, 1.6 million tons in credits for 30 years in Panama and more than seven million tons in credits for 25 years with Chestnut Carbon with headquarters in New York.
