HPE, Facebook and Microsoft grant free patent access for low-carbon innovators

Announced on Earth Day, the Low-Carbon Patent Pledge aims to accelerate breakthrough technologies to address climate change

Innovators developing low-carbon technologies now have free access to patents from three of the world’s largest tech companies under the Low-Carbon Patent Pledge, a commitment to help tackle climate change.

HPE, Facebook, and Microsoft are making available key patents to accelerate the adoption of low-carbon technologies. Under the HPE-led initiative, hundreds of patents that could support technologists developing low-carbon solutions for generating, storing and distributing low-carbon energy will be available royalty-free.

The Low-Carbon Patent Pledge comes amid warnings from the global scientific community that breakthrough technologies will be vital to cutting emissions fast enough to avert climate disaster. Roughly half the reductions needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 require technologies that are not yet commercially available^1, according to the International Energy Agency.

The listed patents cover a broad range of preventative or adaptive technologies that can help combat climate change. These include power management, enablement of zero-carbon energy sources, efficient data center architecture, and thermal management.