Microsoft invests over a billion dollars in waste materials, including human feces, for waste management purposes, aiming to reduce AI-related carbon emissions by injecting it underground.
Microsoft has made a significant stride in its carbon reduction efforts with a 12-year deal worth over $1.7 billion with Vaulted Deep, a carbon removal company. The deal involves the purchase of up to 4.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, with an estimated current cost of around $350 per ton.
Unlike other tech giants like Google and Amazon, Microsoft's approach with Vaulted Deep diverges from typical direct air capture or reforestation methods. Instead, they focus on collecting organic waste, such as manure, sewage sludge, and agricultural byproducts, and converting it into a thick slurry. This slurry is then injected deep underground (approximately 5,000 feet) into basalt rock formations, a process that mineralizes the carbon, trapping it permanently for over 1,000 to 10,000 years.
This innovative method addresses not only climate change but also public health concerns by preventing harmful waste disposal practices that emit methane and groundwater pollutants. The waste, if not injected, would eventually decompose and release carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. When spread on land, organic waste can also contaminate groundwater with pathogens.
The deal with Vaulted Deep is not Microsoft's first foray into carbon offsetting. It represents a unique, scalable, and promising carbon sequestration approach with a current cost in the mid-hundreds per ton, and strong potential for cost reductions, setting it apart from but complementing the carbon removal strategies of peers like Google and Amazon.
In contrast, Google and Amazon primarily focus on capturing CO2 directly from the air or investing in nature-based solutions. Their methods vary in terms of durability, cost per ton, and additional impacts.
Meanwhile, many companies, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and others, are also investing in research for clean energy sources for their expanding data center businesses. The organic waste, instead of being dumped at a waste disposal site, is combined into a thick slurry and injected underground to prevent such disposal.
It's important to note that the exact financial terms of Microsoft's deal with Vaulted Deep have not been disclosed. However, Microsoft's CEO, Julia Reichelstein, expects costs to drop over time, and the mentioned price is not the actual sum Microsoft paid.
Elsewhere, Elon Musk's company, xAI, is facing legal action in Memphis, Tennessee, for allegedly polluting the air by using under-reported power generators at the Colossus Supercomputer.
Projects like Microsoft's with Vaulted Deep help tech giants offset carbon emissions from data centers, which often consume electrical power from fossil fuels. As the world moves towards a more sustainable future, such initiatives are crucial in reducing the tech industry's carbon footprint.
Science and environmental science intersect in Microsoft's innovative carbon sequestration project with Vaulted Deep, which utilizes data-and-cloud-computing to convert organic waste into a slurry, minimizing data center emissions by providing a means of waste disposal. This approach, which leverages technology to address climate-change, sets Microsoft apart from other tech giants like Google and Amazon who primarily focus on direct air capture or nature-based solutions.
