Microsoft’s AI data center push is colliding with its clean power goals
Microsoft’s AI data center push is colliding with its clean power goals
微软在人工智能数据中心方面的推进与其清洁能源目标发生冲突
Microsoft is weighing whether to delay or scale back one of its most ambitious clean energy goals as its rapid buildout of AI data centers puts pressure on its ability to meet those targets. Microsoft has yet to make any public announcements, but according to Bloomberg the company is having internal discussions over its hourly clean energy matching goal. 微软正在权衡是否要推迟或缩减其最雄心勃勃的清洁能源目标之一，因为其人工智能数据中心的快速扩张对其实现这些目标的能力造成了压力。微软尚未发布任何公开声明，但据彭博社报道，该公司正在就其“每小时清洁能源匹配”目标进行内部讨论。
The tech company has said that by 2030 it intends to match 100% of its hourly energy use with clean power on the same grid. But Microsoft’s rush to build AI data centers has apparently sparked debate within the company about whether the pledge has become an impediment to its ambitions. Microsoft declined to comment on the internal debate over the hourly matching goal. Instead, a spokesperson told TechCrunch the company continues “to look for opportunities to maintain our annual matching goal.” 这家科技公司曾表示，计划到2030年，实现其每小时的能源使用量与同一电网上的清洁能源供应实现100%匹配。但微软在建设人工智能数据中心方面的急迫步伐，显然在公司内部引发了关于这一承诺是否已成为其雄心壮志障碍的争论。微软拒绝就有关“每小时匹配”目标的内部辩论发表评论。相反，一位发言人告诉TechCrunch，公司将继续“寻找机会以维持我们的年度匹配目标”。
Hourly targets like the kind Microsoft has set for itself are more rigorous than annual targets. Because the grid is a balanced system — the supply and demand of electrons needs to be matched on a near-instantaneous basis — hourly matching helps develop clean energy sources that more closely align with a company’s usage patterns. 像微软为自己设定的这类“每小时目标”比“年度目标”更为严格。由于电网是一个平衡系统——电力的供需需要近乎实时地匹配——每小时匹配有助于开发与公司使用模式更紧密契合的清洁能源。
Annual targets are more lenient. They are effectively accounting tricks that could, for example, let a company buy more solar power than it might use at midday. Other customers on the grid use that energy, but the company that paid for the solar panels gets to claim the renewable power they make. It’s a tidy arrangement that has sped the deployment of wind, solar, and batteries. But on its own, annual targets won’t eliminate fossil fuels entirely. Hourly targets help foster renewable development that more closely mimics how a true net-zero world would be powered. 年度目标则较为宽松。它们实际上是一种会计技巧，例如，可以让一家公司购买比其在中午实际使用量更多的太阳能电力。电网上的其他客户会使用这些能源，但支付太阳能电池板费用的公司却可以声称自己生产了这些可再生能源。这是一种精巧的安排，确实加速了风能、太阳能和电池的部署。但仅靠年度目标并不能完全消除化石燃料。每小时目标有助于促进可再生能源的发展，使其更接近于一个真正的净零排放世界所需的供电方式。
Big tech companies like Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Apple have generally led on emissions reductions, setting aggressive net-zero targets. Many have eliminated their carbon emissions on an annual basis. Microsoft, for instance, said it met that goal last year. But as data centers grow in size and number, those same companies are turning to natural gas. Microsoft is included in that list; last month, the company said it was working with Chevron and Engine No. 1 to build a massive natural gas power plant in West Texas that could eventually generate up to 5 gigawatts. 微软、Meta、谷歌和苹果等大型科技公司通常在减排方面处于领先地位，设定了激进的净零排放目标。许多公司已经实现了年度碳排放清零。例如，微软表示去年就达到了这一目标。但随着数据中心规模和数量的增长，这些公司正转向天然气。微软也在其中；上个月，该公司表示正与雪佛龙（Chevron）和Engine No. 1合作，在西德克萨斯州建设一座大型天然气发电厂，最终发电量可达5吉瓦。
Despite the West Texas project, Microsoft is widely viewed as a leader among tech companies pursuing net zero emissions. By 2030, Microsoft intends to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than its operations produce. Part of the company’s renewable push has been driven by an internal carbon tax. The Microsoft spokesperson did not reply to questions about the company’s carbon tax. If it remains in place, some of the internal debate surrounding hourly matching might revolve around a cost-benefit analysis of the shift. 尽管有西德克萨斯州的项目，但微软仍被广泛视为追求净零排放的科技公司中的领头羊。到2030年，微软计划从大气中清除的碳量将超过其运营产生的碳量。该公司在可再生能源方面的部分推动力源于内部碳税。微软发言人未回应有关公司碳税的问题。如果该政策继续实施，围绕“每小时匹配”的部分内部辩论可能将围绕这一转变的成本效益分析展开。
If Microsoft were to abandon its hourly-matching target, the company would also lose some leverage in efforts to sell the public on its data centers. As data centers have proliferated, the general public has begun to push back against them, citing concerns over pollution, power prices, and water use. When Microsoft brings its own clean power to a project, it can plausibly say it has addressed two of those concerns. Without it, new data centers might be harder to sell to the public. 如果微软放弃其“每小时匹配”目标，该公司在向公众推销其数据中心时也将失去一些筹码。随着数据中心的激增，公众已开始对其进行抵制，理由是担心污染、电价和用水问题。当微软为项目引入自己的清洁能源时，它可以理直气壮地说自己已经解决了其中两个问题。如果没有这一点，新的数据中心可能更难获得公众的认可。