Large tech companies with bets on artificial intelligence and net-zero commitments have increasingly looked towards a wider array of clean energy technologies to support data center consumption. Lawmakers included a speedy wind down for solar and wind tax credits in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but clean energy investments are still increasing, albeit in a more diversified manner.
Like its tech peers, Meta is seeing an increase in emissions related to AI and looking towards an array of clean energy and low-carbon solutions to manage AI’s needs and related emissions. The social media and tech conglomerate’s data center emissions rose 22% year over year in 2024, even as the company’s scope 1 and 2 operational emissions declined 3.5% over the same time period, according to the data from Meta’s latest sustainability report.
Meta, owner of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is aiming to reach net-zero emissions across its supply chain by 2030. As the industry increasingly turns to nuclear for AI, Meta announced a 20-year nuclear power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy earlier this year. The company has also recently looked to pilot and scale low-carbon construction materials like mass timber and low-carbon steel in order to lower the embodied emissions of its data centers.
Catch up on ESG Dive’s coverage of some of Meta’s notable investments across the clean energy economy in 2025.
