(Bloomberg) – Microsoft Corp. said the first investment for its $ 1 billion climate fund will be at venture capital firm Energy Impact Partners. The software maker has also joined Nike Inc., Starbucks Corp., Unilever NV and Danone SA in a new consortium dedicated to sharing resources and tactics to reduce carbon emissions, joining the efforts of some of the largest global companies that They are committed to taking action against climate change.
The software giant’s $ 50 million investment will bolster the venture capital firm’s support for new technologies for greener energy and transportation systems. New York-based EIP, a fund backed by a utility company with $ 1.2 billion in assets under management, has invested in companies that make software to improve underlying power grids and in Urbint, an artificial intelligence company which has a methane capture technology.
Microsoft announced in January that it plans to be carbon negative, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits, by 2030, and the software maker allocated $ 1 billion to a climate innovation fund to invest in ways to reduce and eliminate carbon emissions, One of the most aggressive corporate plans. By 2050, the company plans to phase out the equivalent of all of its emissions since Microsoft’s founding in 1975. Amazon.com Inc. has also made a carbon neutral pledge and has recruited other companies to join. Both tech giants have been criticized by climate activists for continuing to provide cloud computing services to large oil and gas producers.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, also said it will partner with Sol Systems, a renewable energy developer and investor, in 500 megawatts of solar energy, Microsoft’s largest renewable energy portfolio investment. That will include at least $ 50 million in investments in the parts of the US most affected by environmental problems, for example, regions affected by pollution. The projects will prioritize women and minority owned businesses and will include money for jobs and habitat training and restoration. According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, that amount of solar energy is enough to power approximately 95,000 homes.
Called Transform to Net Zero, the group also includes automaker Mercedes-Benz AG; Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk A / S; Indian information technology firm Wipro Ltd; and Natura & Co., the Brazilian cosmetics firm that owns Avon. The alliance, which plans to recruit other members, will work with the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund and share information on reducing emissions, investing in carbon-reducing technology and coordinating public policy goals.
Additionally, Microsoft will stop using diesel in its data centers by 2030. Fuel is generally used as a backup power source for cloud data centers.
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