Microsoft is the latest company to show its commitment to renewable energy, announcing this week that it has signed two contracts for the provision of wind power energy to run a data centre in Wyoming. This will mean that the centre will be powered entirely by clean and green wind power, with 237 MW of capacity being provided.

The new deal means that the tech giant is now buying 500MW of wind power in the USA. Reports from Bloomberg have shown that America's top 50 company purchasers of wind and solar power capacity in the USA will provide an addition 17GW by the end of the decade. The role of private companies in promoting green energy is likely to be even more important during the Trump administration, as the new President-elect has previously shown a reluctance to accept the value of sustainable and clean energy technologies and has instead spoken of his intention to invest in shale gas and other fossil fuel sources.

Microsoft spokesperson Brad Smith said that the latest investment in wind power allowed Microsoft to keep up to speed with the challenging sustainability goals it set itself last year. Previously, it announced that already 44pc of data centre electricity was coming from hydropower, solar and wind, and the intention is to grow this proportion to 50pc across the estate of data centres by 2018, and then further to 60pc by early in the next decade.

He added that sustainability and innovation were natural partners and that Microsoft was committed to thinking creatively about its data centres and how it could run them in a way that is increasingly sustainable by piloting new initiatives such as as this which provide benefits for business, the environment and local communities.