Breakneck data center growth challenges Microsoft’s sustainability goals

Microsoft’s new sustainability report, released late last week, shows how a carbon-heavy economy can weigh on a company that wants to be carbon light. Since 2020, its carbon emissions are up 23.4%, mostly a result of breakneck data center buildout to support its growing cloud and AI operations. Buying enough clean electricity is actually the easy part — it’s the facilities themselves that are laden with carbon-intensive materials and products, including steel, concrete, and computer chips. “We reflect the challenges the world must overcome to develop and use greener concrete, steel, fuels, and chips,” a Microsoft spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “These are the biggest drivers of our Scope 3 challenges.” Scope 3 emissions are those that are outside a company’s direct control, including raw materials, transportation, and purchased goods and services. Emissions in Scope 3 represent nearly all of Microsoft’s carbon footprint, just over 97% for fiscal year 2024, which the 2025 sus ... Read full article.