Google announced in its 2024 environmental report on Tuesday (July 2) that its carbon emissions in 2023 have surged by 48% compared to 2019. This marks a clear setback.
According to the report, Google's emissions in 2023 were 14.3 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a year-on-year increase of 13%. The increasing carbon emissions have made it even more difficult for Google to achieve its goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2030.
The company attributes the surge in emissions to the increase in energy consumption in data centers and supply chain emissions, which are driven by the rapid development and demand of artificial intelligence. Among them, the total electricity consumption of the company's data center increased by 17% in 2023.
Currently, multiple reports indicate that artificial intelligence will drive an increase in electricity demand. Earlier this year, Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs predicted that by 2030, data centers would account for 8% of the total electricity consumption in the United States; According to a report released by Wells Fargo Bank, it is expected that electricity demand will increase by 20% by 2030, and artificial intelligence data centers alone are expected to increase electricity demand by approximately 323 terawatt hours in the United States. By comparison, the current annual electricity consumption in New York City is 48 terawatt hours.
However, Google wrote in its report that the energy efficiency of its data centers is 1.8 times that of regular data centers. Moreover, the company added that it remains committed to mitigating the environmental impact of artificial intelligence through model optimization, efficient infrastructure, and emission reduction.
It is expected that renewable energy will play an important role in meeting the energy demand of artificial intelligence in the future, but analysts believe that this will not immediately take effect. Rich Country Bank analyst Roger Read pointed out that many renewable energy sources will be installed in areas with a certain distance from data centers, and building a power line to transmit energy to the data center will require a considerable amount of time.
Google is not the only large technology company facing increased emissions due to the demand for artificial intelligence. Microsoft reported in May this year that its total carbon emissions have increased by nearly 30% since 2020, mainly due to the construction of data centers.