MAX SCHULZ DIRECTOR , SUSTAINABLE DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE ALLIANCE ( SDIA )

Creative Carbon Accounting Muddying the waters still further is the issue of carbon credits and offsetting . Essentially , carbon credits allow private Corporation A to pay private Corporation B a sum of money per gram , kilo , or tonne of carbon ( or other pollutants ) emitted into the atmosphere . That money is then supposedly invested by Corporation B back into green initiatives , like research into carbon capture tech or planting trees . In exchange , Corporation A gets to scrub the amount of carbon it ’ s paid for from its balance sheet .

While data centre operators have made some strides towards more efficient power and cooling , sourcing greener power , and using less environmentally harmful building materials , it ’ s rare to find a claim of reaching “ net zero ” emissions made in the past five years that doesn ’ t also bear the addendum “ with the assistance of carbon credits .” And , while investment into green technologies is undoubtedly a good thing , critics of carbon credits suggest that this allows companies to rake in huge profits by acting unsustainably , and then use a portion of those revenues

86 February 2022