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Microsoft announced Thursday that it ’s buying over 7 million wads of carbon copy mention from Chestnut Carbon .
The 25 - class mass would enable Chestnut Carbon toreforest60,000 acre of nation across Arkansas , Louisiana , and Texas , Axiosreported . Recently , the tech company has shin to rein in in its carbon emissions as AI has driven a surge in data center construction and use .
Microsoft describe last year that its emissions climb 29 % since 2020 as a event of the boom in AI and swarm computation , endanger its 2030 destination to keep apart more carbon than it make . In 2023 , the ship’s company reported generating17.1 million tonsof nursery flatulency emanation before first .
Carbon credit add up in a range of flavors . Chestnut Carbon focuses on reforestation , in which the society help tree planting and then monitor the new forests to ensure they originate as planned and are n’t cut down . The company currently has a number of projects , including eight in the Southeast U.S. which were antecedently worked as farm or pastures .
tree by nature sequester C as they grow , though not all timberland - related carbon reference are created equal . Credits from projects that industrial plant non - native , tight - maturate trees are in the main seen as lower quality and sell for less since they do n’t tend to support as much biodiversity , and the tree diagram do n’t tend to live as long . Projects that support diverse , native plantings typically sell at a insurance premium since the ecosystem that lead tend to be more resilient over time .
Even premium atomic number 6 citation from afforestation , re-afforestation , and avoided disforestation are a comparative muckle compare with some alternatives . Chestnut Carbon sold credits for improved forest management last year for $ 34 per long ton , whereas direct melodic phrase gaining control , which practice fan and chemical substance sorbent material to draw CO2out of the standard pressure , be around $ 600 to $ 1,000 per ton today . Despite the cost first derivative , Microsoft has also bought carbon paper reference fromdirect strain capture startups .
For all their strengths , nature - based carbon recognition are n’t always perfect . Verra , which has the largest nature - based carbon credit portfolio , was the subject of anextensive investigationin 2023 , which reported that the organisation overstated the mood welfare of its projects . The scandal led to theCEO ’s ousterand made the manufacture reassess the standard it uses . Chestnut Carbon , which use Verra to demonstrate its improved forest direction C credits , today use Gold Standard for its afforestation , re-afforestation , and revegetation credits .
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Update : Clarified details on carbon credits and verification .
