Why Microsoft Has Inked A Deal To Buy 4.9 Million Tons Of Human Waste

Tech giant Microsoft has inked a $1.7 billion deal with US startup Vaulted Deep to purchase 4.9 million metric tons of organic waste, including human waste, for 12 years, starting from 2026. 

The move comes as part of the company's effort to reduce increasing carbon emissions due to its AI systems, The Wall Street Journal reported. Each ton of carbon is currently priced at approximately $350.

The electricity required for running the company's AI operations has led to a sharp rise in pollution levels. According to Microsoft's annual Environmental Sustainability Report, its total carbon emissions have surged by almost 30 per cent since 2020. 

Vaulted Deep is a startup that specialises in removing carbon from the environment by burying organic waste underground. So, the startup will collect the organic waste, including human sewage, farm manure, paper mill sludge, and other byproducts, and convert it into a bioslurry.

The company will then inject the bioslurry deep underground, over 5,000 feet beneath the Earth's surface. Once buried, the waste doesn't release greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane. 

Julia Reichelstein, CEO of Vaulted Deep, said, "We're taking different types of organic waste that today cause problems above ground, and instead we put it really deep underground for permanent carbon removal."

The addition of new data centres and the carbon found in building materials and hardware components like servers, racks, and semiconductors are the main causes of the increase in their Scope 3 emissions, as read in the company's blog post.

The WSJ reports that the company has so far bought over 83 million tons of carbon removal credits, including 59 million tons bought this year. 

Microsoft aims to become carbon negative by 2030 and hopes to create 100 per cent of its electricity from carbon-free sources. By 2050, it seeks to clean up more greenhouse gases than the company has emitted since its founding.