Microsoft

Microsoft recognises that climate change is a serious challenge that requires a comprehensive and global response from all sectors of society. We are committed to reducing the impact of our own operations and products and providing software and technology innovations that help people and organisations around the world improve the environment.

According to a recent Gartner study, the information and communication technology (ICT) sector accounts for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Microsoft is focused on helping reduce the energy consumed by technology. For instance, we made Windows Vista our most energy efficient operating system to date, through significant enhancements to power management infrastructure, functionality, and default settings. A senior scientist in the United States (US) estimated that if the majority of US computer owners use the enhanced energy saving features in Windows Vista, it could prevent 3 million tons of carbon emissions from electric power plants.

Microsoft serves on the board of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, which brings together industry leaders to design more efficient computing systems and promote the use of advanced power management settings. By 2010, our goal is to reduce global computer CO2 emissions by 54 million tons per year, equivalent to the annual output of 11 million cars or 10-20 coal-fired power plants.

We also aim to bring dramatically higher energy efficiency to data centres through work in the Green Grid industry partnership and by demonstrating the possibilities in our own operations. Microsoft’s new data centre opening in Dublin in 2009 will use outside air to cool the facility and will be around 50% more efficient than similarly sized facilities.

Microsoft Research is supporting cutting edge research projects to advance energy efficiency in computing.

ICT influence on other sectors

We also see great opportunities to use ICT solutions to reduce the 98% of greenhouse gas emissions from other sectors. We’re not alone in that belief. A recent climate report by the World Wildlife Fund noted, “There is probably no other sector where the opportunities through the services provided holds such a reduction potential as for the IT industry.” 

The Smart 2020 analysis conducted by McKinsey & Company and published by The Climate Group and Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) identified ways that effective use of IT can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions 15% by 2020 through applications including teleworking, e-commerce, smart building design and use, smart logistics, smart electricity grids, and smart industrial motor systems. The use of these applications could deliver energy efficiency savings to global businesses worth US$800 billion and would eliminate emissions equivalent to 7.8 giga-tonnes of carbon dioxide. That reduction is greater than the current annual emissions of either the US or China and five times greater than ICT’s own projected carbon footprint in 2020.  

Partnerships on a global scale

Microsoft is working in partnership with customers, government agencies, environmental groups, industry groups, and leading environmental scientists and academics to drive global action on climate change. As other examples:

• Microsoft partnered with the Clinton Foundation to develop a suite of technology tools that will enable cities to accurately monitor, compare and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to provide a global standard for cities in their climate change accounting, mitigation and communications efforts.

• Our collaborative and videoconferencing technology Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Roundtable can help businesses greatly reduce travel needs. Volvo estimates that the Microsoft collaboration products alone save enough travel to eliminate 900 tons of CO2 emissions per month.

• We are working with our business customers and platform partners on creative consumer solutions. For example, our “EcoDrive” collaboration with Fiat uses an in-car USB stick tool that analyses the users’ driving style and provides recommendations on more energy efficient driving. Our ClearFlow feature in Live Maps enablesdrivers in over 70 cities to find routes based on the least traffic, reducing travel time and pollution.

Microsoft Research is collaborating with some of the world’s leading climate scientists and is working to advance environmental sustainability broadly by: redefining the role of geo-spatial technology in environmental research; leading, enabling and accelerating fundamental advances in science; and realising the potential of software to reduce the environmental impact of individuals. 

We commend the work of the Council of Parties to the UNFCC and we see an important role for governments to provide the frameworks that spur the transition to a low-carbon economy, including:

• Direct funding for basic research into renewable and sustainable low-carbon energy sources

• Market-based mechanisms that are stable and predictable over the long term and incentivise the private sector to invest in the transition to sustainable low-carbon energy sources and technologies

• Regulatory systems that support innovation and eliminate barriers to the adoption of sustainable low-carbon technologies

There is much work to be done in moving to a more sustainable, low-carbon global economy. Microsoft is strongly committed to helping meet this challenge.

W: www.microsoft.com/environment