Google generated an estimated 14.3 million tCO2e in 2023, a 13% increase from 2022 that it says is primarily related to the significant expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
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Google’s net zero target hangs in the balance as its reliance on energy-hungry data centers to power its rapidly expanding fleet of artificial intelligence products grows, with the company reporting a 48% surge in emissions since 2019.
The tech giant generated an estimated 14.3 million tCO2e in 2023, a 13% increase from 2022, as revealed in its annual environmental report released Tuesday, saying the primary cause was AI’s growing energy demand. Google, which is valued at approximately US$754 billion, aims to achieve net-zero emissions across all operations and value chain by 2030.
According to the report, Google’s data centers account for around 7-10% of global data center electricity consumption, which the International Energy Agency (IEA) says represents 1-1.3% of global electricity demand. Owing to the expansion of AI services, Google’s data center electricity consumption last year grew 17% compared to 2022, a trend the company says is expected to continue in the future.
“Reaching this net zero goal by 2030, this is an extremely ambitious goal,” Google Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt told news agency The Associated Press. “We know this is not going to be easy and that our approach will need to continue to evolve … and it will require us to navigate a lot of uncertainty, including this uncertainty around the future of AI’s environmental impacts.”
Owing to datasets and models becoming more complex, the energy needed to train and run AI models has skyrocketed in recent years, exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions. According to OpenAI researchers, the amount of computing power required to train cutting-edge AI models has doubled every 3.4 months since 2012. By 2040, it is expected that the emissions from the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry as a whole will reach 14% of the global emissions, with data centres and communication networks accounting for the largest portion.
More on the topic: The Environmental Impact of Artificial Intelligence
The report also praised the company for its effort to apply AI and machine learning to drive the net-zero transition. Google’s “Cool Roofs” tool, for example, combines AI and aerial imagery to support the implementation of reflective roof that are designed to reflect more sunlight and absorb less solar energy, saving energy and reducing indoor and outdoor temperatures. The company also uses AI to enhance weather forecasting, with a tool currently being tested on 70 flights that has been found to reduce climate-warming contrails by 54%, and optimization of grid decarbonization and energy use in buildings.
Earlier this year, Google also launched MethaneSAT, a satellite that maps methane leaks from oil and gas companies around the world. With the help of AI, the company hopes the data collected by the satellite will create a comprehensive view of methane emissions sources and enable a better understanding of how to mitigate them.
“Through increased collaboration, innovation, and implementation, together with the development of robust governance and ethical frameworks that include minimizing the environmental impact of AI itself, we must ensure that AI remains unbiased and benefits all,” said Golestan Radwan, Chief Digital Officer at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). “This is critical, because what is undeniable is AI’s potential to address the environmental challenges of our time and help steer our planet towards a more sustainable and prosperous future.”
But while some think AI’s energy intensity is worth it in the name of sustainability, others think its carbon footprint is too substantial to be ignored and could jeopardize any environmental efforts that relies on this technology.
In 2019, researchers at the University of Massachusetts conducted a study to determine how much energy is used to train certain popular large AI models. They found that training can produce about 626,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of around 300 round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco – nearly 5 times the lifetime emissions of the average car.
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