Google's carbon emissions are up 51% since 2019. Reason: AI

Google's carbon emissions are up 51% since 2019. Reason: AI

Google's carbon emissions have shot up by a whopping 51% since 2019, primarily due to a combination of factors.

These include scope 3 emissions influenced by data center capacity needed for artificial intelligence (AI) operations, rather than solely electricity consumption for AI technologies.

Despite investing in renewable energy and carbon removal tech, the tech giant has struggled to reduce its scope 3 emissions.

Electricity consumption spikes by 27% YoY

Google has reported a massive 27% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its electricity consumption.

This spike is mainly due to the company's struggle to decarbonize at the same pace as its energy needs are growing.

Data centers are vital for training and running AI models like Google's Gemini and OpenAI's GPT-4..

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that data centers' total electricity consumption could double from 2022 levels by 2026, reaching around Japan's current electricity demand of 1,000 terawatt-hours (TWh).

AI to account for 4.5% of global electricity consumption

Research firm SemiAnalysis estimates that AI will account for 4.5% of global electricity consumption by 2030.

The report warns that the rapid growth of AI could lead to "non-linear growth in energy demand," making future energy requirements and emissions trajectories harder to predict.

This highlights the need for tech companies like Google to find ways to balance their growing energy needs with sustainability goals.

Google flags slow progress in low-carbon electricity generation

Google has also flagged the slow progress in new forms of low-carbon electricity generation.

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), which are compact nuclear plants designed to be quickly constructed and integrated into the grid, were seen as a potential solution for decarbonizing data centers.

However, their deployment has been slower than expected due to high costs and a lack of incentives from current regulatory structures.

Agreements to buy over 22GW of clean energy

Since 2010, Google has signed over 170 agreements to buy more than 22 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy.

In 2024 alone, the company added a record-breaking 8GW of new clean energy to its operations.

The tech giant also met one of its environmental targets early by eliminating plastic packaging from new Google products launched and manufactured in 2024.

Google aims to cut down emissions through its AI products

Google is also leveraging its AI products to help individuals, cities, and other partners collectively cut down their carbon-equivalent emissions by 1 gigaton (GT) annually by 2030.

The company believes that the emission reductions enabled by AI applications would outweigh the emissions generated by the AI itself, including its energy consumption from data centers.