Google's emissions surge by 48% due to AI

Tech giant Google's emissions have increased by 48% over the last five years. In an annual environmental report released on Tuesday (2 July), Google said its greenhouse gas emissions totaled 14.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide throughout 2023. 

This is 13% higher than 2022, and 48% higher than 2019. Google said the increase in emissions is primarily due to increases in data centre energy consumption and supply chain emissions. 

"As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute, and the emissions associated with the expected increases in our technical infrastructure investment," said Google in the report. 

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In 2021, Google set a goal to reach net-zero emissions across all of its operations and value chain by 2030. To meet this goal, the tech giant aims to reduce 50% of its combined emissions and invest in nature-based and technology-based carbon removal solutions to neutralise its remaining emissions. 

Google has also formally committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to validate its absolute emissions reduction target. 

Having said that, Google expects its total emissions to "rise before dropping toward our absolute emissions reduction target." 

"Reaching net-zero emissions by 2030 is an extremely ambitious goal and we know it won’t be easy. Our approach will continue to evolve and will require us to navigate significant uncertainty–including the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI, which is complex and difficult to predict," said Google in the report.

"In addition, solutions for some key global challenges don’t currently exist, and will depend heavily on the broader clean energy transition," it added. 

Earlier in June, Google invested in new data centres across Singapore and Malaysia. In Singapore, the tech giant announced the completion of its latest data centre and cloud region campus expansion. 

This increased the company’s total investments in technical infrastructure in the country to US$5 billion (SG$6.7 billion), an increase from US$850 million (SG$1.1 billion) in 2018.

A statement made by Google reports that the completed data centres respond to growing demand for cloud services locally and around the world, serving to bolster Singapore’s position as a data center hub for the region.

“The expansion of our data center campus in Singapore reaffirms our commitment to helping Southeast Asian organisations capitalise on digital opportunities, while ensuring that growth is as sustainable as possible,” said Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer, Google.

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