Chinese multinational tech company, Alibaba Group, has joined Low Carbon Patent Pledge (LCPP), an international platform that encourages sharing patents for low carbon technologies, to accelerate the adoption of green technology.
The company has made nine key patents for green data centre technology available for free to external parties, and announced the ambition to have its global data centres running entirely on clean energy by 2030, starting with upgrades to five of its hyperscale data centres in China.
Joining the coalition of various pledgors from the international society, the initiative marks the first time that Alibaba Group has pledged to offer critical intellectual property broadly available on sustainability, which it says reinforces its long-standing commitment to achieving a low-carbon and sustainable future for the society through forging broader cooperation. The nine patents offered are parts of Alibaba’s green data centre technologies, including the ‘soaking server’ cooling system Alibaba Cloud has deployed for its data centres since 2015. This non-mechanical cooling measure reports energy savings of over 70 per cent compared to traditional mechanical cooling.
“We believe technology innovation is a key driver in transitioning to the low-carbon circular economy of the future. As a pioneer and global technology leader, we are committed to taking broader social responsibility to use technology to level the playing field and empower wider social groups, creating long-term value. We are excited to join the pledge as a way to encourage a collective approach to build a sustainable and inclusive future for the society and environment through open collaboration, joint innovations, and mutual inspiration,” said Dr. Chen Long, Vice President of Alibaba Group and Chair of Alibaba’s Sustainability Steering Committee.
Low Carbon Pledge Patent was launched on Earth Day 2021 by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Microsoft, and Meta with the mission of promoting low-carbon technologies and fostering collaborative innovation. Professor Jorge Contreras, an academic expert on patent pledges, noted: “The addition of these companies strengthens the Low Carbon Patent Pledge and reflects the reality that all sectors of industry can contribute to the effort to accelerate the transition to low carbon energy sources.”
