{"id":768895,"date":"2021-09-09T13:33:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T20:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-group&#038;p=768895"},"modified":"2022-08-22T13:18:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T20:18:11","slug":"environmental-sustainability-research","status":"publish","type":"msr-group","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/group\/environmental-sustainability-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental Sustainability Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"mb-3 moray-highlight\">\n\t<div class=\"card-img-overlay mx-lg-0\">\n\t\t<div class=\"card-background  has-background- card-background--full-bleed\">\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-waterdrops_header_08-2021_1920x720-6125135d74c82.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"environmental sustainability - microscopic view of glass-like bubbles\" style=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-waterdrops_header_08-2021_1920x720-6125135d74c82.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-waterdrops_header_08-2021_1920x720-6125135d74c82-300x113.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-waterdrops_header_08-2021_1920x720-6125135d74c82-1024x384.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-waterdrops_header_08-2021_1920x720-6125135d74c82-768x288.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-waterdrops_header_08-2021_1920x720-6125135d74c82-1536x576.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-waterdrops_header_08-2021_1920x720-6125135d74c82-1600x600.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-waterdrops_header_08-2021_1920x720-6125135d74c82-240x90.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<!-- Foreground -->\n\t\t<div class=\"card-foreground d-flex mt-md-n5 my-lg-5 px-g px-lg-0\">\n\t\t\t<!-- Container -->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container d-flex mt-md-n5 my-lg-5 align-self-center\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Card wrapper -->\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"w-100 w-lg-col-5\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- Card -->\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card material-md-card py-5 px-md-5\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-body \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<h1 id=\"environmental-sustainability-research\">Environmental Sustainability Research<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"microsoft-corporate-environmental-sustainability\">Microsoft Corporate Environmental Sustainability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Driving a more sustainable world through mission-driven scientific research and applied technology<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"research-and-innovation-to-make-the-world-more-sustainable\">Research and innovation to make the world more sustainable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Environmental sustainability is a complex global challenge. Climate change is causing dramatic shifts to the environment and worldwide disruptions of unprecedented scale. The world needs to mobilize to understand and tackle these issues. Yet, many of the technologies we need to make the world more sustainable do not yet exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a research community, we have an opportunity to leverage our expertise in computation, machine learning, modeling and simulation, systems and networking, computer vision and other disciplines to help us understand, model and predict our resource use and our changing climate \u2013 and engineer appropriate and effective solutions. As an industrial research lab, Microsoft Research has the capability to take on bold, high risk\/high-reward projects, the opportunity to make long-term investments, as well as the ability to devote resources to shorter-term projects to achieve immediate impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Environmental sustainability is a significant research area at Microsoft. We are working on a wide portfolio of research projects that push the state of the art in science, engineering and economics to make Microsoft, our customers, and the world more sustainable. We are building on our long-standing relationships with the academic community and external partners, and our interdisciplinary work across chemistry, biology, physics and other fields. From modeling and prediction to understand our changing climate, to prevention and mitigation, we collaborate broadly and tackle difficult challenges using an interdisciplinary approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/collaboration\/microsoft-climate-research-initiative\/\">Microsoft Climate Research Initiative<\/a> to learn more about how Microsoft and partners are driving toward a carbon negative future together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/group\/societal-resilience\/\">Learn more about complementary work on Societal Resilience ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignfull is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Microsoft tests Project Natick, self-sustaining underwater datacenter\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/AvvJc4Uw3aA?feature=oembed&rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"highlights\">Highlights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RWqRpV-343x193.jpg\" alt=\"aerial view of an urban area showing green belts\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/land-cover-mapping\/\"><strong>Land Cover Mapping<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/MS_AI_Agriculture_DataVis_001-480-x-280.jpg\" alt=\"photo of a woman walking through an agricultural farm with an overlay of AI data points\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/farmbeats-iot-agriculture\/\"><strong>FarmBeats: AI, Edge & IOT for Agriculture<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Urban Innovation: bus stop sensor installation in Chicago\" class=\"wp-image-759556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-1066x600.png 1066w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-655x368.png 655w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-343x193.png 343w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-240x135.png 240w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-640x360.png 640w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install-1280x720.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/UrbanInnovation_bus-stop-install.png 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/urban-innovation-research\/\"><strong>Urban air sensing in Chicago with Project Eclipse<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"fog or smoke rising from a forested hillside\" class=\"wp-image-773296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-1066x600.jpg 1066w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-655x368.jpg 655w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-343x193.jpg 343w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-960x540.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SubseasonalClimateForecasting-fog.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/subseasonal-climate-forecasting\/\"><strong>Subseasonal Climate Forecasting<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"taking-a-principled-approach\">Taking a principled approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever Microsoft takes on a new and complex societal issue, we strive first to learn and then to define a principled approach to guide our efforts. In 2020, we did the same with environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-scientist_08-2021_1400x788.jpg\" alt=\"female scientist writing equations on a clear panel\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Grounding in science and math<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will continually ground our work in the best available science and most accurate math.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Sustainability_Microsoft-TEC-construction5-1400x788-1.jpg\" alt=\"Geoexchange construction at Microsoft\u2019s campus in Redmond, Washington (photo by Dan DeLong)\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Taking responsibility for our footprint<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By 2030, we will reduce our own carbon emissions by more than half and remove more carbon than we emit each year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-new-solutions_08-2021_1400x788.jpg\" alt=\"close up of a hydrogen fuel cell\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Investing in new solutions and technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will deploy at least $1 billion of our own capital to accelerate the development of carbon reduction and removal technologies that will help us and the world become carbon negative.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-empowering_08-2021_1400x788.jpg\" alt=\"aerial view of a mountain top wind farm\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Empowering customers and partners around the world<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will develop and deploy technology to help our suppliers and customers around the world reduce their carbon footprints as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-transparency_08-2021_1400x788.jpg\" alt=\"photo of a forest through a lens ball\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ensuring effective transparency<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will publish an annual sustainability report that provides transparency on our progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-policy_08-2021_1400x788.jpg\" alt=\"photo of three business people talking in an outdoor setting\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Using our voice on climate-related public policy issues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will support new public policy initiatives to accelerate carbon reduction and removal opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/EnvSustainability-employees_1400x788.jpg\" alt=\"photo of male and female employees reviewing information on a tablet\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Enlisting our employees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recognize that our employees will be our biggest asset in advancing innovation, and we will create new opportunities to enable them to contribute to our efforts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the Environmental Sustainability Research group, we are working on a wide portfolio of research projects that push the state of the art in economics, science, and engineering to make Microsoft, our customers, and the world more 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