The emission of pollutants into the atmosphere is one of the biggest challenges faced by leading technology companies. Due to the high investment in physical infrastructure, Google increased in 48% the emission of greenhouse gases in the last five years.
One of the main reasons is the high volume of data centers, developed to run expanding artificial intelligence systems. The information was confirmed by the company itself, through the Environmental Report of 2024, released last Tuesday, 2. The survey confirmed the total of 14,3 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted in just 2023.
This represents an increase in 13% compared to the previous year (2022). Compared to 2019, total energy emissions demonstrated an increase of 37%. The supply chain, who is responsible for 75% of the sector’s total emissions, there was also a recorded increase.
Energy “eaters”
The report also confirms that AI systems require a lot of energy to function. Consequently, there is greater investment in data centers, encouraging the emission of pollutants. In isolation, energy consumption in data centers has grown 17% in the last year.
“As we further integrate AI into our products, Reducing emissions may be challenging due to increased energy demands arising from greater AI calculation intensity and emissions associated with the expected increase in our investment in technical infrastructure.”, detailed Google in its report.
Google recognizes responsibilities
In the technology sector, the energy transition to renewable sources is a priority demand. At the moment, the launch of data centers in space is already being studied. Google recognizes the challenges being posed by technological advancement and AI.
“The future environmental impact of AI is complex and difficult to predict”, Google justifies the increase in emissions. The current report ended up casting doubt on the company's plan to bring net emissions to zero by the year 2030.
Nonetheless, big tech claims to be committed and working to achieve this goal. One way to halve total carbon emissions is to invest in more energy-efficient data centers and hardware models..
