Google had a goal to rein in its carbon emissions to net-zero by the year 2030, but artificial intelligence is throwing a huge, energy-intensive wrench into that.
The internet search giant said its carbon footprint soared in 2023 — by nearly 50% compared to 2019 figures, according to its 2024 Environmental Report. Year over year, emissions were up 13% from 2022. The cause behind this surge in emissions was the massive amounts of energy Google needed to run its data centers and supply chain operations to ramp up and power its AI initiatives.
It’s not just Google that’s dealing with unsustainable energy demands to keep its AI systems up and running. Several influential tech firms, including Amazon Web Services, are turning to nuclear power to fuel their projects. In fact, a third of nuclear power plants in the U.S. are discussing deals with tech companies to supply electricity for data centers powering leading AI models, The Wall Street Journal reports.
For Google, its uptick in emissions directly opposes its environmental goals. In its report, the company said it’s going to lean on carbon removal to help offset the gains, but that practice isn’t without its own controversy.
“2023 marks the first year of implementation of our carbon removals strategy, and while we have a long way to go to meet our 2030 target, we’ve begun establishing impactful partnerships and have started contracting for carbon removal credits,” Google said in its report.
Laura Bratton contributed to this article.