The Record - Issue 20: Spring 2021

43 “We have a growing interest in renewable energy and a commitment to be fully renewable by 2025. In addition to us helping BP with that work, BP is also a strategic renewable energy partner for Microsoft.” There are also many small companies play- ing an important role in sustainability. For example, SilviaTerra uses AI to understand the health and species of trees for capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It began working with Microsoft through the AI for Earth programme, which was set up to help small and mid-size non-profits to access Microsoft Azure and training resources to combine environmental science with com- puter science. “Forestry is still a really big business and trees are now valuable for both their timber and their carbon sequestration abilities,” says Lancaster. “It is important to know the overall state of for- est health, especially for carbon offset projects. “We worked with SilviaTerra to move its mapping applications onto Azure. Using satel- lite imaging and AI to fill in the gaps, the firm can look at any plot of land and find out the number, species, height and health of the trees. These are the key factors in estimating their carbon value.” Microsoft’s sustainability commitments have focused heavily on removing carbon from the atmosphere. It has invested in 26 offset projects to remove 1.3 million metric tons of carbon and its partnership with SilviaTerra is building on this commitment. “We have also worked with the firm to take its algorithm to organisations that certify land for carbon-offset projects and we have agreed to purchase the first set of the carbon offsets that are generated as a result of their calculation,” says Lancaster. Many organisations are aware of human impact on the environment and seek more sus- tainable operations, but struggle to implement procedures to affect change. Lancaster says that Microsoft can help address this. In 2020, for example, Microsoft launched its Sustainability Calculator to help businesses measure the carbon emissions that result from their cloud usage and provide insights on how to reduce them. “This service not only helps customers under- stand the carbon value of using our products,” says Lancaster. “It also helps with reporting and is the first time that we’ve seen a business “ Investing in sustainability is a win-win for everyone” SCOT T HARDEN, CHI EF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER OF WORLDWIDE ENERGY, MI CROSOF T Microsoft’s Sustainability Calculator helps businesses measure the carbon emissions of their cloud usage