Google, despite its goal of achieving net zero emissions, is pumping out more greenhouse gases than before as it powers the data centers needed to support artificial intelligence, the company said.
Google’s climate change emissions have risen 48% over the past five years, contrary to its advertised goal of becoming carbon neutral for the sake of the planet, according to an annual environmental report published on Tuesday.
Total greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 13 percent higher than the previous year, mainly due to the increased energy consumption of the data center and its supply chain, the report said.
The increase came even as Google ramps up its use of solar and wind clean energy.
“Despite the progress we are making, we face significant challenges that we are actively working on,” chief sustainability officer Kate Brandt and senior vice president Benedict Gomes said in the report.
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“As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be difficult due to increasing energy demands from AI’s greater compute intensity and emissions associated with expected increases in our technical infrastructure investments.”
Google isn’t alone in the challenge of powering power-hungry AI data centers while trying to curb climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions.
Microsoft said in its recent sustainability report that greenhouse gas emissions last year rose 29% from 2020 as it continues to “invest in the infrastructure needed to drive new technologies.”
Microsoft and Google have been at the forefront of an AI race since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022.
AI was a theme for rivals in their blockbuster earnings performance in the quarter.
Meanwhile, Google and Microsoft have each committed to being carbon neutral by the end of this decade.
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Microsoft has an additional goal of being carbon negative, removing climate-damaging gas from the air, by 2050.
Amazon, also an AI contender with its AWS cloud computing division, has said it aims to be carbon neutral by 2040.
“A sustainable future requires systems-level change, strong government policies and new technologies,” Google says in its report.
“We are committed to working together and playing our part, every step of the way.”
Source: AFP