Food and water scarcity, extreme weather conditions and loss of biodiversity are increasingly impacting people around the world. These are the challenges of our era, and technological innovations – such as AI – can provide solutions that can be sustained over the long term.

Microsoft has been bringing its global reach and expertise in AI to bear, both within its operations and across the planet. One such program is ‘AI For Earth’ – a $50m, five-year program aimed at empowering others using cutting-edge AI technology to solve some of the world’s environmental issues.

One ‘AI For Earth’ project is FarmBeats, an end-to-end, data-driven approach to sustainable agriculture, using sensors and drones, along with vision and machine learning algorithms.

Ranveer Chandra, Chief Scientist and Lead of Microsoft’s Azure FarmBeats, explains the project’s importance, “The world has a food problem. Our food production needs to increase by 70% on 2010 levels to feed the growing population. But it’s not just about feeding the world – you need to give people good, nutritious food.”

A lot of decisions that farmers make are currently based on educated guesswork: where to sow, how much to water, and when to harvest. FarmBeats promotes data-driven precision agriculture, using technology to provide key information that takes the guesswork out of farmers’ lives – boosting the efficiency and productivity of agriculture on a huge scale.

Internally, Microsoft has been 100% carbon neutral since 2012, thanks to an internal carbon tax. In January 2020, it announced a goal to be carbon negative by 2030 and to remove all the carbon it has emitted directly, and from electrical generation, by 2050. This is part of the company’s sustainability strategy led by Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Officer, Lucas Joppa. In addition to carbon, Joppa is spearheading efforts focusing on water, waste, and ecosystems. 

These efforts are part of Microsoft’s recognition that there is a need for major players in the technology sector – growing in resources and energy consumption as the world becomes more connected and produces more data – to reduce their footprint by using renewable energy and reducing their water and land use.

Data centres enable the always-connected culture we now enjoy. In continuance of its commitment to sustainability, Microsoft has been developing solutions for data centres that use less energy. 

Sean James, Director of Energy Research at Microsoft, explained the beneficial capability of fuel cells. 

“When we learned about fuel cells, we saw an opportunity to simplify the data centre and cut out all the points of failure,” he said. “They offer a very unique place in terms of energy storage, which is crucial for balancing renewable energy. When the wind dies down or when the sun isn’t available, you have to store all that energy. Fuel cells offer a very promising future.”

With technology consistently evolving, the next innovation could surprise even Microsoft. But the company is building a foundational infrastructure right now that will enable that next wave of innovation and provide a platform for the battle against climate change.

To learn more about Microsoft’s sustainability commitments, visit aka.ms/OurSustainability