Xbox Gets ‘Carbon Aware’ Download System to Limit Environmental Impact

Microsoft is optimizing the Xbox to conduct downloads and updates when the console can use the most renewable energy, thereby cutting down on carbon emissions. 

The Xbox team announced the feature on Wednesday as part of Microsoft’s ongoing effort to become a “carbon negative” company and help combat climate change. The software giant already brought so-called “carbon aware” downloads to Windows 11 22H2 this past September. Now it’s delivering the same function to Xbox consoles. 

The feature works(Opens in a new window) by pulling the “carbon intensity data” for your region, which can indicate what times of the day your local power grid is using non-renewable energy sources, such as coal or natural gas, to create electricity. The Xbox will take this data to schedule game, app, and OS updates during times of the day when the electric grid is relying more on clean energy, such as solar, wind, or hydro. 

“For example, instead of your Xbox waking up during the nightly maintenance window at a random time between 2:00 AM – 6:00 AM, your console will wake up at a time when it can use the most renewable energy in your local energy grid,” the company said. This means the console could schedule the update at noon when the energy grid can rely on solar power. 

“This decreases fossil fuel dependency and CO2 emissions, and could potentially save you money,” Microsoft added. 

The new setting arrives today for users on the beta Xbox Insider program(Opens in a new window), who’ve configured the console to use the “Shutdown (energy saving)” mode. But Microsoft plans on rolling out the carbon aware download system to all Xbox owners soon. 

Microsoft didn’t say whether you can bypass the carbon aware downloads. However, in Windows 11 you can by choosing(Opens in a new window) to install an update immediately.

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To cut down on the potential carbon footprint even more, Microsoft is automatically updating all Xbox Insider users to Shutdown (energy saving) mode on the console. This means their systems will switch away from the standard Sleep mode, which can boot up the console instantly and be awakened remotely, but at the cost of consuming more electricity. 

The tweak may annoy some Xbox Insiders. But Microsoft says the Shutdown (energy saving) mode can save up to 20 times more electricity compared to the Sleep mode. “This one-time update to your power settings will reduce your power consumption while your console is off, and will not affect performance, gameplay, or your console’s ability to receive overnight updates to system, games or apps,” the company said. 

In addition, users can go into the console’s settings to make Sleep mode the default again. To address Xbox Insiders who opt for the Sleep mode, Microsoft is adding a function that promises to limit how much electricity the console will consume during the day. 

“Another energy setting update that will start to roll out to Xbox Insiders today is the new ‘Active hours’ setting,” the company said. “For those that select the Sleep power option, you can now adjust your console’s active hours. Your Xbox will boot quickly and will be available for remote wake during your selected active hours. When your Xbox’s active hours are done for the day, it will fully shut down and will draw 0.5 W vs. 10-15 W while active.”

For Xbox Insiders, the Xbox Series X and S consoles will automatically determine the active hours based on when the hardware is used. The older Xbox One, meanwhile, will default to “always active” unless changed.