Microsoft’s Go Green Agenda

In this era of pollution due to industrialisation and development, pollution is on the increase. Alongside, the resources are also depleting at a very fast pace. The need of the hour is to go green and switch to alternative sources of energy. One such initiative has been taken by Microsoft. It has made an effort to power its datacentres using renewable energy.

The company has turned to the use of renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro for meeting about fifty percent requirements of over its 100 datacentres that are located across 40 countries. In order to accomplish its go green agenda, Microsoft has signed procurement deals in Europe, Asia and North America. These deals are as follows: (i) Microsoft has signed a deal with Atria Power, a Bengaluru-based clean energy producer, under the Karnataka government's program. Through this deal, Microsoft aims to purchase 3 megawatts (MW) of solar electricity from Atria Power so as to meet 80 percent of energy requirements at the company's new facility in Bengaluru. (ii) Lately, Microsoft signed its first ever renewable energy deal in Asia. It happened in Singapore, which is home to Azure, Office 365 and other cloud services for its Southeast Asian customers. The company is keen to purchase energy from Sunseap's 60 MW solar project over a period of 20 years. After completion, this shall result in the largest rooftop solar project in Singapore. (iii) Apart from solar energy Microsoft is also focussing on wind energy. Microsoft's datacenters in the US, Netherlands and Ireland are run mostly using wind power. Taking inspiration from Microsoft, even other IT companies are turning towards renewable sources of energy as it not only has climatic benefits but also offers a decrease in the operational costs of the company.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: http://www.computerworld.in/news/microsoft-goes-green-india-solar-power-80-percent-bengaluru-units-operations