Three years ago, Google set out an ambitious plan to combat climate change by aiming to become carbon neutral — meaning it would not release more greenhouse gases into the air than it removes — by 2030.
But a company report released Tuesday shows it is far from meeting that goal.
Rather than decreasing, its emissions increased by 13% in 2023 compared to the previous year. Compared to the 2019 base year, emissions increased by 48%.
Google cited artificial intelligence (AI) and the demands it places on data centers, which require huge amounts of electricity, as the reason for the growth. Generating electricity by burning coal or natural gas emits greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, which warm the planet and cause extreme weather.
The company has one of the largest climate commitments in the industry and is considered a leader. Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, believes Google should do more to partner with cleaner companies and invest in the electricity grid.
“The reality is that we are way behind what we could already do today with the technology that we have and with the resources that we have, to advance the transition,” she said.
Kate Brandt, Google’s chief sustainability officer, told The Associated Press that the goal of net-zero emissions by 2030 is “extremely ambitious.”
“We know that this will not be easy and that our approach will have to continue to evolve,” Mr.me Brandt: “This will force us to face many uncertainties, including the future of AI’s environmental impacts.”
Noisy and power-hungry data centers
Some experts say the rapid expansion of data centers needed to power AI threatens the entire transition to clean electricity, an important part of combating climate change. Indeed, a new data center can delay the closure of a fossil-fuel power plant or provide an incentive to build a new one.
Data centers are not only energy-intensive, they also require high-voltage transmission lines and large amounts of water to stay cool. They are also noisy. They are often built where electricity is cheapest, not where renewables like wind and solar are the primary sources of power.
Global demand for electricity for data centers and AI could double by 2026, warns the International Energy Agency.
The sustainability plans of other big tech companies are also being challenged by the proliferation of data centers. They have caused Microsoft’s emissions to increase by 29% from their 2020 baseline, the company said in an environmental sustainability report in May.
PHOTO STEVE MARCUS, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Google’s emissions rose last year in part because the company consumed 25,910 more gigawatt hours, an increase from the previous year and more than double the hours of energy it consumed four years earlier.
Responsible use
But tech companies argue that AI, including tools like ChatGPT, can also help reduce climate change.
In Google’s case, that might involve using data to predict future floods, or making traffic more efficient to save gas.
Amanda Smith, a senior scientist at Project Drawdown, a climate nonprofit, said those using AI — whether they’re big companies or individuals creating memes — must do so responsibly, meaning only using energy when it benefits society.
It is up to us as humans to monitor what we do with it and ask ourselves why we are doing it. When it is worth it, we can ensure that these demands are met by clean energy sources.
Amanda Smith, Principal Scientist at Project Drawdown
Google’s emissions rose last year in part because the company used more energy; 25,910 gigawatt-hours more, an increase from the previous year and more than double the hours of energy it used four years earlier. A gigawatt-hour is roughly the amount of energy a power plant serving several hundred thousand homes produces in one hour.
As Google’s consumption increases, so does its use of renewable energy.
The company said in 2020 that it would meet its growing electricity needs using only clean energy worldwide by 2030. Last year, Google said it saw an average of 64% carbon-free energy consumption for its data centers and offices around the world.
The company claims its data centers are, on average, 1.8 times more energy efficient than other data centers in the industry.
Sachs credited Google for its ambition and honesty, but said she hoped Google would be more involved in discussions about how to accelerate clean energy in the face of the climate crisis, so that the situation “doesn’t get worse before it gets better.”