Google, Facebook, and Microsoft oppose the wind farm plan promoted by Warren Buffett, the 'god of investment'

In order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, there is a need to move away from dependence on oil and coal and switch to renewable energy. In the state of Iowa in the United States, a large-scale wind power generation and solar power plant construction project ' Wind PRIME ' is planned with the investment of Mr. Warren Buffett , who is called 'God of investment'. Google, Facebook (Meta), and Microsoft, who are wary of rising costs, have issued a statement calling for a review of the project.

Facebook, Google oppose Buffett-backed wind farm project --Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2022-06-11/facebook-google-oppose-buffett-backed-wind-farm-project

Known as the god of investment, Buffett is also actively investing in renewable energy, such as investing in a next-generation nuclear power plant construction project in collaboration with Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 2021. In January 2022, Buffett announced a huge investment of 3.9 billion dollars (about 526.1 billion yen) in the renewable energy project 'Wind PRIME' of the energy company ' MidAmerican ' based in Iowa.

Wind PRIME is a project to build a wind farm capable of supplying 2042 MW and a solar power plant capable of supplying 50 MW in Iowa, and if Wind PRIME succeeds, it will be able to supply 700,000 households. It has been with. However, on April 14, 2022, Google and Facebook issued a joint statement (PDF file) that 'realizing Wind Prime is very costly. MidAmerican has not fully considered alternatives.' In addition, on May 19, 2022, Microsoft also announced its participation in the above joint statement (PDF file) .

'We are concerned that the Wind PRIME proposal may not benefit energy consumers,' Google spokeswoman Collina Standifford told the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, said that Google, Facebook, and Microsoft operate data centers in Iowa, so 'the three companies are worried that electricity costs will increase after the realization of Wind Prime.' I point out that.

According to the Los Angeles Times, tech companies are looking for options that can maximize their profits, and they are more likely to accept the demands of tech companies because of the amount of power they consume. .. The Los Angeles Times pointed out that the three companies' opposition to Wind PRIME 'shows the magnitude of the impact of giant tech companies on the energy revolution.'

In addition, Google , Facebook , and Microsoft have announced that they will reduce carbon dioxide emissions to virtually zero by 2030.