Google's Carbon Emissions Surge by 48% in Five Years

Google, based in Mountain View, California, has reported a significant increase in its carbon emissions over the past five years, according to its 2024 Environmental Report. The tech giant's emissions have risen by 48% since 2019 and by 13% from the previous year.

This surge comes despite Google's commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its operations and value chain by 2030. The increase is largely attributed to heightened demand for data centers and supply chain emissions, with data center power consumption rising by 17% in 2023 alone. Currently, these centers account for 25% of Google's total emissions, while the supply chain contributes 75%.

Google is focusing on reducing its carbon footprint by improving infrastructure and deploying more efficient six-generation Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), which are 67% more power-efficient. This technology aims to reduce the energy needed for training AI models, potentially cutting associated emissions substantially.

The company reports that 64% of its energy consumption now originates from carbon-free sources, such as geothermal energy. Google has also signed contracts to purchase nearly 4 gigawatts of clean energy in regions including Australia, Belgium, and Texas.

Efforts to reduce single-use plastic consumption have also been noted, with almost all packaging for devices like the Pixel series now being 99% plastic-free since 2023.

Despite these initiatives, Google acknowledges that certain regions, such as Asia-Pacific, present challenges due to the limited availability of carbon-free energy. The firm continues to promise reductions in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, leveraging AI for solutions like improved traffic management through Google Maps to help reduce vehicle emissions.

The company anticipates further challenges as it integrates more AI into its products, stating that achieving its net-zero targets by 2030 will require significant efforts.