Alibaba Group Holding Limited

Cloud Provider

Legal name: Alibaba Group Holding Limited · HQ: CN · Public (BABA) · Founded 1999

Largest cloud provider in Asia-Pacific and developer of the Qwen model family. Committed RMB 380 billion (~$53B) to AI and cloud infrastructure over three years and is running ahead of that plan. Publishes an annual ESG report with a 2030 carbon-neutral operations target, but absolute energy for the cloud fleet is not separately disclosed.

Disclosure Quality

Score

40/100

Transparency Grade

T-3

partial disclosure

Grades run T-1 (most transparent) to T-5 (least transparent).

Red flags identified (2)

  • RF-01 · Total energy consumption not disclosed
  • RF-04 · AI-specific energy use not disclosed

See the disclosure audit below for details.

Fiscal year 2026. Score computed from OpenButterfly T1–T6 disclosure framework audit. Confidence tier: C (Estimated, Documented Method).

Environmental Metrics

Fiscal year 2026. Each metric is shown at its most recent available year; rows from a different year are marked.

Confidence tiers: A measured and verified · B company-reported · C documented estimate · D uncertain estimate · E modeled · ND not disclosed.

Total Energy Consumption

16.1 TWh

≈ the annual electricity use of 1.5 million US homes

method: known_capacity_model

Source: OpenButterfly pipeline

C

Scope 1 Emissions

140 kt CO₂e

≈ the annual emissions of 30,000 passenger cars

method: scope1_ratio_model

Source: OpenButterfly pipeline

E

Scope 2 Emissions (market-based)

4.20 Mt CO₂e

≈ the annual emissions of 913,000 passenger cars

method: grid_carbon_model

Source: OpenButterfly pipeline

D

Scope 3 Emissions

14.20 Mt CO₂e

≈ the annual emissions of 3.1 million passenger cars

method: scope3_ratio_model

Source: OpenButterfly pipeline

E

Water Withdrawal

20.1 GL

≈ 8,042 Olympic swimming pools of water

method: wue_model

Source: OpenButterfly pipeline

D

Property-Line Noise (estimated)

~56.2 dBA at property line

method: cooling_load_noise_model

Source: OpenButterfly pipeline

E

Disclosure Audit

Show 5 disclosure checks (T1–T6 framework)
T1.1

Total electricity consumption disclosed

Group ESG report gives partial energy figures; Alibaba Cloud fleet electricity not separately itemised.

RF-01 (Total energy consumption not disclosed)

Partial
T1.2

AI-specific energy consumption disclosed

AI workload energy not attributed despite triple-digit AI revenue growth for nine consecutive quarters.

RF-04 (AI-specific energy use not disclosed)

Not Disclosed
T2.1

Scope 1 GHG emissions disclosed

Scope 1 disclosed in the annual ESG report; 2030 carbon-neutral operations target.

Fully Disclosed
T3.1

Total water withdrawal disclosed

Water data reported at group level; data center withdrawal not itemised.

Partial
T6.1

GHG accounting methodology documented

GHG Protocol referenced; third-party assurance on ESG report.

Fully Disclosed

Sources

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