Google uses highly energy-intensive data centers more to support its new artificial intelligence products, thus putting its aim of reducing its carbon footprint in peril. In a five-year period, the IT giant said that its carbon emissions had risen by 48%.
(Photo : Getty Images/MARVIN RECINOS)
Extremely Ambitious
Google claims that this rise in carbon emissions was due to the increased usage of supply chains and data centers.
The tech company reported in its environmental report for 2023 that its carbon emissions hit 14.3 million metric tons, which is a 13% rise compared to the previous year.
The tech company Google, which has made huge investments in artificial intelligence, said that reaching its very challenging goal of achieving zero carbon footprint by the year 2030 will not be a walk in the park.
They also pointed out that the issue of uncertainty about how AI might affect our future environment was one of several key uncertainties that could prevent us from realizing this goal.
According to Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment, Google ought to be investing in the electricity infrastructure and collaborating with greener businesses more.
"The reality is that we are far behind what we could already be doing now with the technology that we have and the resources that we have in terms of advancing the transition," she said.
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AI Energy Demand
Some experts claim that this shift towards renewable power sources that are key to fighting global warming could be at risk because of the rapidly spreading data centers necessary for running artificial intelligence.
This is because the construction of a new data center may prevent the closure of an existing fossil fuel-burning power plant or delay its closure. Data centers require high-voltage lines for electricity and water for cooling, besides consuming a lot of electricity.
The International Energy Agency estimates that in 2026, data centers may consume twice as much electricity in total, that is 1,000 TWh (terawatt hours), which is approximately equal to what Japan consumes.
AI will make data centers use 4.5% of the world's energy production by 2030, according to research firm SemiAnalysis.
Data centers play a vital role in training and maintaining AI models like this one that enables ChatGPT and runs Google's Gemini.
Data farms are growing in numbers, and this means other big internet companies' efforts towards the sustainability agenda are at risk too.
Microsoft reported that its emissions increased by 29% above 2020 baseline in May's environmental sustainability report.
The co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, last week said that artificial intelligence can help in solving the problem of climate change because big companies want to spend more in renewable energy to be seen as using green power now.
Major tech companies, in a bid to reach their climate objectives, have considerably stepped up their acquisition of renewable energy.
Another concern about the environment that extends artificial intelligence is the usage of water. Projected in one study that this sector would need approximately 6.6 billion cubic meters by 2027 - approximately two thirds what England releases every year.
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