Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will purchase more than 7 million tons of carbon credit from Chestnut Carbon.
AXIOS reported that a 25 -year contract will allow Chestnut Carbon to re -plant 60,000 acras of land in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Recently, high -tech companies are struggling to reduce carbon emissions as AI has rapidly increased the construction and use of data centers.
Microsoft reported that last year, as a result of the AI and cloud computing boom, the emissions have increased by 29 % since 2020, and the goals of isolation of more carbon rather than creating 2030 goals. I did. In 2023, the company reported that it had generated 17.1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions before the offset.
The carbon cash is a variety of flavors. Chestnut Carbon focuses on planting, promoting wood planting, monitoring new forests, growing as planned and reduced. The company currently has eight projects in the southeast of the United States, and used to work as a farm and pasture.
Not all forest -related carbon credits are created equally, but trees naturally are isolated to carbon carbon as they grow. Credits from projects that plant non -native and rapidly growing trees are generally considered low quality, do not tend to support biological diversity, and do not tend to live long, so they are sold less. It will be considered. Projects that support diverse native planting are usually sold in premiums because the ecosystem generated as a result tends to have high recovery over time.
Even the premium carbon credit from planting, re -planting, and avoided forest destruction is a relative transaction compared to several options. Chestnut Carbon sold credits for $ 34 per ton last year, but the direct air capture of fans and chemical adhesives to draw CO2 out of the atmosphere was about 600 to $ 1,000 per ton of today. Ta. Despite the cost difference, Microsoft also purchases a carbon credit from the air capture startup directly.
Naturally based on all their strengths, carboxxes based on nature are not always perfect. VERRA, the largest natural -based carbox -ticketfolio, reported that it was a subject of a wide range of surveys in 2023 and was exaggerated by the organization. The scandal led to the expulsion of the CEO and re -evaluated the standards used in the industry. Chestnut Carbon, which had previously used Vera to authenticate carbon credit, uses a gold standard today.