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Google's emissions are up 50 percent

Google's greenhouse gas emissions have grown significantly, increasing by 48 percent since 2019. The company's annual environmental report, released Tuesday, shows the total rose 13 percent year over year in 2023.

This surge is primarily due to energy consumption by data centers and supply chain emissions. The growth comes as Google invests heavily in building new AI infrastructure.

AI is making it harder to meet climate goals

Google acknowledges that its expanding AI work is directly increasing emissions. The report states that "the future environmental impact of AI" is complex and difficult to predict.

This trend makes Google's ambitious climate goal—to reach net-zero emissions by 2030—much harder to achieve. The company admits that "as we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging."

Data centers are the main driver

The construction and operation of energy-intensive data centers are central to the problem. These facilities are essential for training and running large AI models.

In 2023, Google's data centers and offices consumed 24 terawatt-hours of electricity. That is a 17 percent increase from the previous year and roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of a country like Azerbaijan.

The company's total energy-related emissions in 2023 were 14.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. This represents the vast majority of its corporate emissions.

Google is trying to offset the impact

To combat this, Google says it is pursuing several strategies. The company is investing in clean energy projects and looking for more carbon-intelligent computing solutions.

It is also exploring ways to make AI models, hardware, and data centers more energy-efficient. However, the report notes that "significant uncertainty" remains around the environmental impact of the AI boom.

Key challenges Google faces include:

• Predicting the future energy needs of AI
• Managing emissions from its global supply chain
• The intermittent nature of clean energy sources like solar and wind

This is an industry-wide problem

Google is not alone. Other tech giants investing heavily in AI, like Microsoft, have also reported rising emissions. The energy demands of this new computing era are testing the climate commitments of the entire sector.

Google's latest data shows that its climate goal, once a leading pledge, is now under serious threat from its own product strategy. The tension between technological ambition and environmental responsibility is becoming starkly clear.