Google’s 2024 Environmental Report

Since our earliest days, we’ve been on an formidable journey to assist construct a extra sustainable future. An necessary a part of that’s sharing what we’ve realized alongside the best way and being clear about our progress and our challenges. That is very true given the urgency of the second — a time when technological development is converging with the necessity for vitality transition.

Our annual Environmental Report presents a deep dive into our efforts to harness know-how — notably AI — to drive optimistic environmental change and function our enterprise sustainably.

Our method to enabling AI for sustainability

We all know that scaling AI and utilizing it to speed up local weather motion is simply as essential as addressing the environmental influence related to it.

To assist reduce our environmental footprint, we’ve constructed world-leading environment friendly infrastructure for the AI period, together with Trillium, our sixth-generation Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), which is over 67% extra energy-efficient than TPU v5e. We’ve additionally recognized tested practices that our analysis exhibits can, when used collectively, scale back the vitality required to coach an AI mannequin by as much as 100 occasions and scale back related emissions by as much as 1,000 occasions. All these practices are used at Google immediately.

We attempt to construct the world’s most energy-efficient computing infrastructure, supported by accountable water use practices and a dedication to minimizing waste. A Google-owned and -operated information middle is, on common, roughly 1.8 occasions as vitality environment friendly as a typical enterprise information middle. In 2023, the typical annual energy utilization effectiveness for our information facilities was 1.10 in contrast with the trade common of 1.58, that means that our information facilities used about 5.8 occasions much less overhead vitality for each unit of IT tools vitality.

Final yr we launched a water risk framework to additional determine climate-conscious cooling options that take into account carbon-free vitality (CFE) availability, watershed well being and future water wants. We see our rising infrastructure as a chance to drive the improvements and investments wanted to energy a low-carbon financial system.

AI holds immense promise to drive local weather motion. Actually, AI has the potential to help mitigate 5–10% of worldwide greenhouse gasoline (GHG) emissions by 2030. We’re advancing local weather motion by means of AI in three key areas:

• Organizing data: Fuel-efficient routing makes use of AI to research visitors, terrain and a automobile’s engine to recommend essentially the most environment friendly route. It’s estimated to have helped allow greater than 2.9 million metric tons of GHG emissions reductions for the reason that function launched in late 2021 to the top of 2023 — that’s equal to taking roughly 650,000 fuel-based vehicles off the street for a yr.
• Enhancing prediction: We constructed a breakthrough world hydrological AI mannequin and mixed it with publicly out there information sources to predict floods up to seven days in advance in over 80 international locations. This covers territories the place greater than 460 million folks reside, serving to these communities put together for and reply to riverine floods.
• Higher optimization: Inexperienced Gentle is an AI-based device that helps metropolis visitors engineers optimize the timing of visitors lights to cut back stop-and-go visitors and gasoline consumption. This technology has the potential for as much as 30% discount in stops and as much as 10% discount in emissions at intersections.

Via our merchandise, we purpose to assist people, cities and different companions collectively scale back 1 gigaton of carbon equal emissions yearly by 2030, and we’ll proceed to develop applied sciences that assist communities adapt to the consequences of local weather change.

How we’re driving sustainability throughout our operations

In 2017, Google grew to become the primary main firm to match 100% of our annual electrical energy consumption on a worldwide foundation with renewable vitality, which we’ve achieved yearly since. Constructing on our first two decades of progress, in 2020 we launched our third decade of local weather motion — our most formidable but.

We’ve got a daring aim to achieve net-zero emissions throughout all of our operations and worth chain by 2030, supported by a aim to run on 24/7 CFE on each grid the place we function. As well as, we’re working to advance water stewardship, construct a round financial system, and restore and improve nature and biodiversity. This yr’s report exhibits how we proceed to make progress throughout all of those areas:

• 10 of our grid areas achieved no less than 90% CFE, and even with our whole electrical energy load rising throughout our information facilities, we maintained a worldwide common of 64% CFE. We additionally celebrated a first-of-a-kind enhanced geothermal mission now delivering CFE to the grid.
• We signed contracts to buy roughly 4 gigawatts of unpolluted vitality technology capability in places corresponding to Texas, Belgium and Australia — greater than in any prior yr.
• We applied a Google Renewable Vitality Addendum that asks our largest {hardware} manufacturing suppliers, based mostly on spend, to decide to reaching a 100% renewable vitality match by 2029.
• Our water stewardship initiatives replenished an estimated 1 billion gallons of water, which represents 18% of our 2023 freshwater consumption and tripled our replenishment progress of 6% in 2022.
• For brand new Google merchandise launched and manufactured in 2023, our packaging was no less than 99% plastic-free. Plus, packaging for our Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Professional makes use of 100% plastic-free supplies.

Our ongoing work to construct a sustainable future

Despite the progress we’re making, we face important challenges that we’re actively working by means of. In 2023, our whole GHG emissions elevated 13% year-over-year, primarily pushed by elevated information middle vitality consumption and provide chain emissions.

Whereas we superior clear vitality on most of the grids the place we function, there are nonetheless some hard-to-decarbonize areas like Asia-Pacific the place CFE is not available. As well as, we frequently see longer lead occasions between preliminary investments and development of unpolluted vitality initiatives and the ensuing GHG reductions from them. To proceed to drive progress towards a low-carbon financial system, we most not too long ago introduced a clear transition charge that brings prospects and utilities collectively to drive new clear vitality initiatives within the U.S., and we unveiled an funding to allow 1 gigawatt of recent photo voltaic capability in Taiwan.

A sustainable future requires systems-level change, sturdy authorities policies and new technologies. We’re dedicated to collaboration and enjoying our half, each step of the best way.