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Summary:
Achieving 24/7 carbon-free energy is far more complex and technically challenging than matching energy use with renewable energy purchases each year. Tech giants are looking for ways to achieve the ultimate goal of all-weather carbon-free energy.
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→This is the 1118th original article of Global Zero Carbon
In the face of the growing climate problem, tech giants have developed their own climate strategies.
Google has proposed to use carbon-free energy around the clock by 2030, Amazon plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its entire operation by 2040, and Microsoft has pledged to become carbon negative by 2030 and remove all direct or indirect carbon dioxide equivalent from the company's founding in 1975 by 2050.
Among them, Google, Apple, and Facebook completed the use of 100% renewable energy in their operating systems in 2017, 2018, and 2020, respectively. But this is still far from the ultimate goal of 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE).
Round-the-clock carbon-free energy means that every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed is met by carbon-free electricity sources, every hour of every day, everywhere. This is both the end state of a fully decarbonized power system and the key to accelerating it, requiring that energy consumption for each hour of the day be matched with carbon-free energy, and that the energy consumed comes from production in the same grid.
Achieving 24/7 carbon-free energy is far more complex and technically challenging than matching energy use with renewable energy purchases each year. And Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, which are good at solving challenges, are accelerating on the journey of all-weather carbon-free energy for a sustainable future.
Caption: Google's renewable energy purchases compared to total electricity consumption Source: Google
01
Invest heavily in carbon-free energy
Back in 2010, Google signed its first-ever agreement to buy 114 megawatts of wind power in Iowa. The deal makes Google a pioneer in corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs), contracts to purchase renewable energy directly from developers on the power grid that operate data centers. From 2010 to 2022, Google signed more than 80 agreements totaling about 10 GW of clean energy generation capacity.
Caption: Google Data Center Global Zero Carbon Energy Map Source: Google
In 2022, all of Google's data centers, including those operated by third parties, achieved about 64% of their round-the-clock carbon-free energy. Seven of Google's 41 grid regions are at least 90% carbon-free energy and 13 are at least 85% carbon-free around the clock.
Tech giant Amazon is also leading the way in green electricity consumption. For the fourth year in a row, Amazon is the world's largest buyer of clean energy, buying more PV and wind power than the latter three combined, according to BNEF.
In 2023, Amazon announced 74 individual PPAs in 16 different markets, bringing total power purchases to 8.8GW. More than 60% of these transactions were for the purchase of photovoltaic power generation, while the rest were for the purchase of wind power. This brings Amazon's announced corporate PPA portfolio to 33.6GW, making it the world's eighth-largest clean energy portfolio, behind the 34.6GW of NextEra, the largest US power utility, even though Amazon does not own projects of its own. Meta followed Amazon in 2023 with the announcement of a 3GW PPA.
Caption: Amazon tops the list of global corporate renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) Source: BNEF
In addition to Google and Amazon, Microsoft's green electricity consumption strength should not be underestimated. In July 2021, Microsoft extended its commitment to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2025, proposing that by 2030, Microsoft will match 100% of its electricity consumption with zero-carbon energy procurement 100% of the time.
According to Microsoft's latest sustainability report, by the end of 2022, Microsoft had more than 13.5 GW of clean energy contracts in 16 countries across its global operations. On May 1, 2024, Microsoft and Brookfield Asset Management announced the signing of a global renewable energy framework agreement to invest more than $10 billion to develop renewable energy generation capacity to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence and data centers.
Under the agreement, Brookfield will provide more than 10.5 GW of new renewable energy generation to Microsoft in the U.S. and Europe between 2026 and 2030, with the potential to expand to Asia Pacific, India and Latin America. The deal represents nearly eight times the size of the previous largest single-company PPA, making it the world's largest enterprise-level clean energy purchase deal in history, making Microsoft the second-largest buyer of clean energy after Amazon.
Caption: Microsoft signs agreement to invest more than $10 billion in renewable energy capacity Source: BlackridgeResearch
02
Accelerate the advancement of new technologies
Wind and solar energy are widely distributed and the total amount is huge, but it is greatly affected by the natural environment such as geography and weather, and the characteristics of randomness and volatility are obvious, and the power output is unstable, which is contrary to the requirements of technology giants for continuous and stable power supply in data centers. As a result, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are all eyeing the next generation of energy technologies that can provide green energy around the clock.
When it comes to accelerating the development of new and improved technologies, Google has worked to optimize the power generation of existing CFE technologies, manage the energy needs of global operations, and accelerate the development of next-generation energy sources.
Among other things, in terms of managing the energy needs of its global operations, Google has developed a "carbon intelligence computing platform" that optimizes the timing and location of computing tasks based on local CFE availability. This will enable more computation to be done in areas where renewable energy is abundant, by shifting some of the computing tasks in the data center to the time when local solar and wind energy is most abundant, and by geographically shifting tasks between data centers.
Caption: CarbonMatcher 24/7 analytics tool developed by ENGIE for Google Data Centers Source: ENGIE
In terms of accelerating next-generation energy development, in May 2021, Google and clean energy startup Fervo signed the world's first corporate agreement to develop next-generation geothermal power projects. Fervo Energy began supplying Google with 3.5 megawatts of carbon-free electricity in November 2023, roughly equivalent to the energy used by 500 U.S. homes. Google is also working with Fervo Energy to develop artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to increase the productivity of next-generation geothermal energy, making it more responsive to demand while filling the gap left by variable renewable energy.
In addition to geothermal energy, Google is also exploring in the field of nuclear energy. In July 2022, Google and Chevron participated in a $250 million funding round for fusion startup TAE Technologies. TAE announced that the funds will be used to build a next-generation nuclear fusion machine called Copernicus, which will be completed by 2025, using hydrogen and boron as fuel and in a beam-driven field reversal configuration.
Caption: Prototype of the LM26's key test platform Source: General Fusion
At the same time, Amazon began its nuclear energy layout. In November 2021, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and other investors participated in a US$130 million Series E funding round for Canadian nuclear power company General Fusion, led by Temasek, to support multiple initiatives and milestones in its plans to commercialize magnetized targeted fusion (MTF). The company unveiled its fusion demonstration program Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) in August 2023 and plans to achieve transformational technology milestones in 2025 and 2026.
Microsoft is also at the forefront of next-generation energy technologies. In May last year, Microsoft signed the first commercial agreement with startup Helion Energy in the field of nuclear fusion power generation. Helion, backed by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, has pledged to start generating electricity through fusion by 2028 and provide Microsoft with a target of at least 50 megawatts of electricity a year later or pay a fine.
In January, Microsoft hired its first nuclear technology chief, Archie Manoharan, whose responsibilities include "refining and implementing the Global Small Modular Reactor and Microreactor Energy Strategy." This indicates that Microsoft will also enter the field of small modular reactors.
Caption: Helion is building a prototype to demonstrate the ability to produce electricity through nuclear fusion Source: Helion
03
Transforming the energy system through collaboration and advocacy
In 2021, Google and other partners launched the United Nations Round-the-clock Carbon-Free Energy Compact, a global community dedicated to building the technologies, policies, tools, ideas, and advocacy needed to accelerate the decarbonization of the grid. In Europe, Google has partnered with the European 24/7 CFE Center, which has partnered with Eurelectric to create a platform where energy buyers, suppliers, and policymakers can learn more about the 24/7 CFE, receive technical training, and guidance on implementation.
Caption: United Nations Round-the-Clock Carbon-Free Energy Compact Source: UN
Ensuring that clean energy buyers match their consumption with clean energy generation at the right time and place is key to achieving 24/7 carbon-free energy, and it is important to accurately track energy loads, energy demand, and purchase carbon-free energy by the hour to match demand.
In terms of improving energy data and clean energy tracking, Google is pushing for the development of advanced clean energy tracking methods, including time-based energy attribute certificates. Google is also actively working with organizations such as EnergyTag, Electricity Maps, FlexiDAO, and others in an effort to improve the quality, consistency, and granularity of grid power data.
Caption: Granularity Certificate Exchange Alliance Source: Google
In December 2023, Microsoft, Google, renewable energy trading platform LevelTen Energy, and energy companies AES and Constellation jointly launched the Granular Certificate Trading Alliance, which aims to build an hourly certificate marketplace to help match loads with clean energy around the clock, so that energy buyers can easily access carbon-free energy around the clock. and incentivize energy sellers to produce clean energy where and when it's needed most.
A year earlier, in December 2022, Meta, Amazon, Intel, General Motors, Heineken and others had joined forces to create the Emissions First Partnership, which aims to prioritize emissions reductions over any particular time-matching structure. The carbon matching advocated by the coalition advocates that clean energy buyers calculate the carbon emissions generated by their consumption and then subtract the carbon emissions avoided by their clean energy purchases, with the goal of independently developing consumption and generation strategies to reach the end result of zero emissions as quickly as possible.
Some believe that the two camps are in direct conflict. In fact, carbon matching and hourly energy matching have a common long-term goal: carbon-free grids. However, carbon matching and hourly energy matching are two different strategies to achieve this goal and should be seen as alternative options (rather than mutually exclusive ones), each of which is an improvement over the status quo.
Although the road is far, the journey is coming. While the real world is still far from the ultimate goal of 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE), the transition to a 100% carbon-free energy grid is accelerating.
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Resources:
[1] Google Environment Report 2023
[2]https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/climate-solutions
[3]https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/google-fervo-geothermal-energy-partnership/
[4]https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/how-do-offices-run-on-247-clean-energy/
[5]https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/new-progress-toward-our-247-carbon-free-energy-goal/
[6]https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/sustainability/clean-energy-projects-begin-to-power-google-data-centers
[7]https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ai-is-exploding-data-center-energy-use-a-google-created-technique-may-help-1.2038994
[8]https://about.bnef.com/blog/amazon-is-top-green-energy-buyer-in-a-market-dominated-by-us/
[9]https://www.bnef.com/insights/33423
[10]https://www.bnef.com/insights/33375
[11]https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/google-chevron-invest-in-fusion-startup-tae-technologies.html
[12]https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/25/microsoft-is-hiring-a-nuclear-energy-expert-to-help-power-data-centers.html
[13]https://www.un.org/en/energy-compacts/page/compact-247-carbon-free-energy
[14]https://www.wri.org/insights/247-carbon-free-energy-progress
[15]https://www.leveltenenergy.com/post/gctradingalliance-pressrelease
[16]https://sustainability.fb.com/blog/2022/12/13/putting-emissions-first/
Disclaimer:
This article is for academic communication and dissemination only and does not constitute investment advice