Google’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 48% higher than in 2019, according to its latest environmental report. The tech giant attributes this rise to the increasing energy demands of its data centres, driven by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI).
AI-powered services require significantly more computing power—and therefore more electricity—than standard online activities, prompting several warnings about the technology’s environmental impact. Google aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2030 but acknowledges that “as we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging.”
In its 2024 Environmental Report, Google cites “increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute” as a key factor. Data centres, essentially massive collections of computer servers, are vital for AI operations, which demand substantial amounts of energy. A generative AI system like ChatGPT, for instance, might consume around 33 times more energy than machines running task-specific software, according to a recent study.
However, Google’s report also highlights significant global disparities in the impacts of its data centres. Most centres in Europe and the Americas source the majority of their energy from carbon-free sources. This contrasts with data centres in the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, which rely far less on carbon-free energy. Overall, Google reports that about two-thirds of its energy comes from carbon-free sources.
“If you actually go into a data centre, it’s really hot and really noisy,” says Tom Jackson, professor of information and knowledge management at Loughborough University. “People don’t realize everything they’re storing in the cloud is having an impact on their digital carbon footprint,” he adds. Prof Jackson leads the Digital Decarbonisation Design Group, which aims to measure and find solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of data usage. “Data providers must work closely with large organizations to help them move away from storing so much of their dark data,” he advises. Dark data refers to information collected by organizations that is either used once or not at all. Storing this data still consumes large amounts of energy, even when it is not in active use. “On average, 65% of the data an organization stores is dark data,” notes Prof Jackson.
The rising energy—and water—consumption of AI has prompted a series of warnings, especially as the sector is projected to continue growing rapidly. The head of the UK’s National Grid warned in March that the combination of AI and quantum computing would lead to a six-fold surge in demand over the next decade.
For more details, read the full article on the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51yvz51k2xo
