Recently,Microsoft shook up the controversy about global warming by promising to
make all of its operations carbon negative by the year 2030.The tough part will
be to actually eradicate the carbon which is in the air and go beyond the
concept of conservation. Microsoft is staking for everything from planting
massive numbers of trees to soak up carbon and using technologies to capture
carbon and sequester it in soil, to more exotic technologies, like direct air
capture, in which arrays of machines take in ambient air, eliminate the CO2
from it, and use the carbon in chemicals or concrete.
In
pursuit of raising the price of activities that use heaps of carbon, Microsoft
will additionally use what amounts to private-sector carbon taxes, or fees it
imposes on its supply-chain partners, and on itself for intercompany transactions.
The company's methods for reducing its carbon emissions to near zero are
forthright and similar to what other businesses and consumers are doing.
Competitive tech giant Apple has already reached its goal of powering 100% of
its operations with green electricity. Amazon has sworn to attain 100% usage of
renewable electricity by 2030.
When
it comes to reducing carbon use below net zero, the split among experts is
between those who think technology is more capable and some who think natural
means like reforestation and soil detachment will provide the largest part of
the answer.
Microsoft's
plan seems to lean heavily towards new technologies like direct air capture.
Microsoft might surge its own investment sometime later but doesn't imagine its
money to be the decisive blow against climate change; and because direct air
capture cleans air that can't easily be traced to one polluter, the
technology's use will likely need to be mandated by governments so as to become
widespread.
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