Microsoft and multinational oil company Total have announced a new strategic partnership to work together on digital transformation projects and sustainability goals. The alliance is notable as Total is one of the “supermajor” oil companies that’s currently in the process to become a responsible energy provider, while Microsoft made a public commitment to go carbon negative by 2030
Total and its new partner believe that they can help each other in many ways to achieve their goals and reduce greenhouse emissions. On one hand, Total will use Microsoft technologies to complete its digital transformation, automate business processes, and collaborate with Microsoft on the deployment of low-carbon and carbon-removal technologies. On the other hand, Total will supply Microsoft’s datacenters with green electricity to help the company reduce the carbon footprint of its datacenters across the world.
“The rapid development of Total and Microsoft in their areas of expertise brings many opportunities of cooperation for both companies, who are at the forefront of the fight against climate change” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total. “We are committed to bringing our expertise by selling green electricity to support Microsoft in achieving its sustainability goals, and we’re pleased to rely on Microsoft’s cloud and AI solutions to accelerate our digital transformation. This is fundamental to drive progress towards a world with net-zero emissions”.
If Microsoft plans to go carbon negative by 2030, Total ambitions to become one of the world’s top 5 leaders in renewable energies by 2030 and to get to net-zero emissions by 2050. “We have an enormous opportunity to use advances in digital technology to reduce greenhouse emissions,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the press release. “Our strategic partnership with Total will apply the comprehensive power of Microsoft cloud platforms to accelerate Total’s transition to new energies and to meet sustainability goals.”
