Google's greenhouse gas emissions soar nearly 50% amid AI expansion
Google's greenhouse gas emissions have seen a significant increase of nearly 50% since 2019, as per the company's 2024 environmental report. The tech giant released 14.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2023 alone, marking a 13% rise from the previous year. This level of pollution is comparable to the annual emissions produced by approximately 38 coal-fired power plants.
AI integration and energy consumption fuel emission increase
The surge in emissions is primarily due to the energy consumption of data centers and supply chain emissions, as Google integrates more AI into its products. The company stated, "Reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute, and the emissions associated with the expected increases in our technical infrastructure investment." Electricity consumption from data centers in 2023 alone, added nearly a million metric tons of pollution to Google's carbon footprint.
AI workloads lead to increased water usage
The rise in AI workloads has also resulted in an increase in water usage by Google's data centers. In 2023, these facilities consumed 17% more water than the previous year, amounting to a total of 6.1 billion liters. This volume of water is sufficient to irrigate around 41 golf courses annually in the southwestern United States of America.
Ambitious goal to halve planet-heating pollution
Despite the challenges, Google remains committed to its goal of reducing its planet-heating pollution by half by 2030, in comparison to a 2019 baseline. The company is focusing on making its AI models, hardware, as well as data centers more energy-efficient. Additionally, it aims to operate on carbon pollution-free energy round the clock, on each power grid it plugs into by 2030. However, Google acknowledges that achieving net-zero emissions by this deadline is an ambitious goal with significant uncertainty.
