Today: Tech giant uses power purchase agreements to offset its energy purchases, but critics say it is still burning fossil fuels from the grid; natural gas tycoon teams up with the Rockefellers to fight energy poverty; companies and consumers demand more durable microplastics solutions.

Welcome back: Microsoft said it has reached its goal of matching its total annual global electricity consumption with renewable sources, reaching a target it first set itself in 2020, Yusuf Khan reports.

The tech giant has been a pioneer in the global clean-energy effort, seeking out innovative ways to meet its surging energy needs whilst also trying to reach its dual goal of being carbon negative by 2030. It is the leading buyer of technologies that remove carbon from the atmosphere and a significant investor in startups that produce low carbon steel and cement.

To meet its electricity target, the company uses what are known as corporate power purchase agreements, where companies agree a long-term contract with a renewable energy provider to buy power at a fixed price.

Renewable energy providers say that PPAs offer them assurance that the facilities they build, be they wind, solar or other forms of renewable power, have a guaranteed buyer.

However, while it is true that investing in PPAs funds clean-energy projects, it doesn’t necessarily mean that clean energy will power a particular operation. In most cases, a PPA adds renewable energy to the energy grid at large, helping to decarbonize a country’s energy system overall. But the grid will almost always also use fossil fuels in some form.

Toby Rice made his fortune unlocking a gusher of natural gas in Appalachia. He has a bold new ambition: bringing energy to millions of people in impoverished nations, Benoit Morenne writes.

Rice, the chief executive officer of EQT, one of the largest natural-gas producers in the U.S., is a co-founder of Energy Corps, a nonprofit that aims to help developing nations such as Ghana, Zambia and Burundi build out their energy infrastructure and prosper.

Unlike other philanthropic initiatives that emphasize renewables to energize impoverished societies, Energy Corps sees a role for a broader spectrum of solutions—from fossil fuels to solar panels and nuclear plants. Notably, this approach has been endorsed by the Rockefeller Foundation, one of the richest and oldest foundations in the U.S., in the form of a $200,000 grant.

From his perch at Pittsburgh-based EQT, a company with market capitalization of $36 billion, Rice has preached the benefits of selling more American natural gas across the globe to reduce emissions and strengthen the security of the U.S. and its allies. Now he is wading into a debate: Should impoverished societies be encouraged to rely on polluting fossil fuels to improve their fortunes, or leapfrog to intermittent renewables?

Research into microplastics—minuscule particles from products such as water bottles—and even smaller nanoplastics, has sparked widespread concern about how everything from food packaging to microbeads in cosmetics is shedding tiny bits of material that we could be ingesting.

Clara Hudson writes there is no easy solution. But policy experts at New York University conference said lawmakers and the business community need to pick up the pace to cut back on plastic and find alternatives.

Health worries cross political lines, which increases the potential for change in government and corporate policies, said Daniel Schensul, adviser for sustainable economic development at the Bezos Earth Fund.

“You’re going to hear Make America Healthy Again moms talking about it, while also environmental activists talking about it—and I guarantee your relatives are increasingly worried about microwaving their plastic,” he said. 

Tell me what you think: Send me your feedback and suggestions at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com or reply to any newsletter. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here.

• Goldman Sachs plans to remove race, gender identity, sexual orientation and other DEI factors from its board diversity criteria. (WSJ)
   
• Tech companies are converting aircraft engines to land-based natural gas turbines for power generation in the AI boom. (WSJ)
   
• U.S. oil production reached a record 13.6 million barrels a day last year, defying predictions of decline despite low crude prices. (WSJ)
   
• California has struck its first clean power deal with the U.K. as the U.S. weighs President Trump's latest attacks on climate regulation. (FT)
   
• Two new fronts have opened up in the ongoing attack by Republican attorneys general on sustainability organizations. (Trellis)
   
• Breakthrough Energy, the Bill Gates-backed group that bankrolls climate tech, halts new investment and lays off staff. (Bloomberg)
   
• Now that regulations are here, brands and suppliers alike are drowning in it. Is sustainability a supply chain bottleneck? (Vogue Business)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.