With innovation in the energy sector and advances in Big Data, the potential for improving energy efficiency is continuing to achieve new levels. One concept, dating back to the 1890s, uses electricity to liquefy air by cooling it down, which can make for an innovative approach of storing energy. The Financial Times also reported this week on how the elements of city infrastructure can be improved with the help of wireless sensors. Read on to learn more about technological innovations in efficiency.

At Microsoft our supply chain is a sustainability imperative. In 2013, we began to require our suppliers to provide reports on their adherence to the requirements listed in the Microsoft Vendor Code of Conduct in an effort to drive sustainability improvements in our supply chain. Today, our supply chain initiatives play a key role in our commitment to environmental sustainability. That is why we’re proud to announce that our Microsoft Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) Supply Chain team was recently honored with the 2013 Green Supply Chain Award in Ireland for the work it has done to further green our supply chain by reducing excessive, unnecessary packing within the OEM Distribution and Reseller (ODR) Channel.

Some of the greatest obstacles to widespread growth of renewable energy have to do with intermittency and impacts on wildlife. But new approaches to IT are beginning to address those challenges, like the ability to forecasting wind power that lets utilities reduce their dependency on backup power plants. In another project, Big Data is helping reduce the impacts of wind turbines on wildlife. Read on to learn more about how IT is having a positive impact on sustainable energy and the environment.

The experiments of today are the innovations of the future. Scientific American profiled the work of Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi, two scientists keen on discovering ways to power the world without fossil fuels who have pioneered plans that show how communities can get energy exclusively from renewable sources. Meanwhile, the Financial Times looks at how the MIT Media Lab is passionately developing projects that range from robo-cars to bionics. Read on to hear more about how today’s tinkerers are setting the stage for the sustainable society of tomorrow.

The green building game is changing. A recent McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report characterized the green building movement as one that has shifted from ‘push’ to ‘pull,’ as companies around the world are recognizing both the environmental and the business value of sustainable, energy efficient buildings. Similar to fuel efficiency ratings for vehicles, rating and disclosing the energy performance of buildings is becoming increasingly common around the world. For that reason, predicting a future building’s energy consumption before breaking ground is important for optimizing building designs and developing these ratings. But predicting a building’s energy consumption requires energy-use simulation on a scale that most architecture firms can’t achieve without a research lab and enormous computing power. At Microsoft, we’re working to change that.