Google admitted that its greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 48% in the last five years – largely due to artificial intelligence -, undermining its climate goals.
AI systems require intense levels of computing power, and this has increased pressure on the tech giant’s data centers around the world.
In its latest environmental report, Google warned that reducing these emissions “can be challenging” – especially as it builds new infrastructure.
Earlier this year, the company announced it was investing £788 million in the UK to establish a new data center in direct response to growing demand for AI.
But all of this comes at a time when Google’s self-defined goal of achieving net-zero emissions by the end of the decade approaches.
There have been growing concerns about the impact AI could have on climate change as its adoption continues to grow.
A recent study by the International Energy Agency predicted that the amount of electricity used by data centers could double between 2022 and 2026.
Although Google’s figures reveal that most of its data centers in Europe and the Americas receive the majority of their energy from carbon-free sources, this is not always the case.
This is because facilities in the Middle East, Asia and Australia use a much smaller proportion of energy from cleaner sources.
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Google says it is “actively working” on the “significant challenges” it faces – and some initiatives implemented to reduce emissions may not be immediately beneficial.
The report added: “While we have advanced clean energy in many of the grids where we operate, there are still some regions that are difficult to decarbonize, such as Asia-Pacific, where CFE (carbon-free energy) is not readily available.
“Additionally, we often see longer lead times between initial investments and the construction of clean energy projects and the GHG reductions that result from them.”
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Google went on to argue that AI could ultimately help the world achieve key climate goals and even improve weather forecasts – a sentiment shared by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
But Lisa Sachs of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investing says Google must do more to collaborate with cleaner companies and invest in the power grid.
“The reality is that we are far behind what we could be doing now with the technology we have, with the resources we have, in terms of moving forward with the transition,” she said.
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And while Sachs praised Google for its honesty, she warned that rigorous conversations are needed so that “things don’t get too much worse before they start to get better.”
Amanda Smith – senior scientist at Project Drawdown, a climate nonprofit – added that AI should be used responsibly and only when the resulting energy consumption benefits society.
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