AI drives 48% increase in Google emissions

Google's greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 48% higher than in 2019, according to its latest environmental report. The tech giant attributes this increase to the growing energy demands of its data centres, driven by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI). AI-powered services require significantly more computing power and electricity than standard online activities, leading to concerns about the technology's environmental impact. Google's target is to achieve net zero emissions by 2030, but the company acknowledges that reducing emissions may be challenging as AI becomes more integrated into its products. Data centres are essentially vast collections of computer servers, and AI necessitates a substantial number of them. For instance, a generative AI system like ChatGPT might consume around 33 times more energy than machines running task-specific software. Google's report also highlights significant global disparities in the environmental impacts of its data centres. Most centres in Europe and the Americas derive the majority of their energy from carbon-free sources, whereas centres in the Middle East, Asia, and Australia rely much less on carbon-free energy. Overall, Google states that approximately two-thirds of its energy comes from carbon-free sources. Tom Jackson, a professor of information and knowledge management at Loughborough University, explains that data centres are hot and noisy environments. He points out that many people are unaware of the impact their cloud storage has on their digital carbon footprint. Prof Jackson leads the Digital Decarbonisation Design Group, which aims to measure and find solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of data usage. He emphasizes the need for data providers to collaborate with large organizations to minimize the storage of dark data, which is data collected but rarely or never used. Storing dark data still consumes significant amounts of energy. On average, 65% of the data stored by an organization is dark data. Prof Jackson commends Google's goal of achieving net zero emissions in its data centres by 2030 but acknowledges that it will be a formidable challenge. The increasing energy and water consumption of AI has prompted a series of warnings, particularly as the sector is projected to grow. The head of the UK's National Grid has warned that the combination of AI and quantum computing could lead to a six-fold surge in energy demand over the next decade. However, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently downplayed the environmental impact of AI, suggesting that AI would increase electricity demand by only 2% to 6%. He also argued that AI would help accelerate a reduction in emissions by more than 6%.