The American giant Google has just announced that it is giving up developing new artificial intelligence solutions that will help the oil and gas industry to accelerate the production of fossil fuels.
A statement that follows the publication by Greenpeace of a report which accuses the company as well as Microsoft and Amazon of having helped the majors to cause more damage to the environment in recent years.
“These three tech companies seem to be aware of the mismatch between their stated climate goals and the real climate impact of helping the fossil fuel sector become more productive and efficient,” Greenpeace wrote.
The solutions made available to the industry by these technology companies have facilitated the increase in the supply of oil and gas in the United States, for example. Above all, they have helped companies like Shell, BP, Chevron and Exxon Mobil to boost their production worldwide and, in turn, undermine their own commitment to reducing carbon emissions.
You should know that Google’s decision does not imply that it terminates its existing contracts, but only that it no longer develops new solutions for extraction, rejoices Liz Jardim, responsible for the climate campaign of Greenpeace USA, even if the ideal would have been a termination of its contracts with the industry, she adds.
If Amazon has not commented on the matter, Microsoft has said that the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is complicated, but that the company still aims to be carbon negative by 2030. Greenpeace criticized the posture, saying that Microsoft’s contract with ExxonMobil alone could “result in emissions greater than 20% of Microsoft’s annual carbon footprint” .
SOURCE: oglinks.news