CO2-free from 2030: Google has offset CO2 emissions

Google CO2 emissions

Today, Google will have offset all CO2 emissions since the company was founded. Since Google has been carbon neutral since 2007 through the purchase of compensatory measures ("carbon offsets"), this concerns emissions between 1998 and 2007, which are now also offset.

24/7 CO2-free by 2030

For the future, Google has also set itself the goal of working with CO2-free energy around the clock in all data centers and on every Google campus worldwide, instead of using renewable energy to balance energy consumption. This approach, which is very complex in its practical and technical implementation, cannot yet be put into practice, which is why it is to be achieved as a declared goal by 2030. According to Google, since 2017, its electricity needs have been fully balanced with renewable energies, making it the world’s largest consumer of renewable energy. In addition, they operate the cleanest and most energy-efficient global cloud in the industry, says Google.

Battery storage as buffer

For the goal of working with CO2-free energy around the clock, Google will initially work in all data centers and large locations to use exclusively CO2-free energy for their operation around the clock. In order to overcome the problem that the wind does not blow permanently and the sun does not shine at night, Google will invest in concepts that can reliably obtain CO2-free energy at all locations and at any time of the day by, for example, wind and solar energy sources and is increasingly focused on the use of battery storage systems. AI should be used to optimise energy demand and demand forecasts. These measures will create around 12,000 new jobs by 2025, says Google. Google has summarized details of the CO2-free energy supply until 2030 in a white paper.
 However, the efforts in terms of sustainability and the fight against climate change do not end with one’s own company, according to Google. Instead, it will also invest in the regions of its own suppliers in order to create additional capacities for CO2-free energy. In addition, 500 cities will be supported in reducing their CO2 emissions by one gigatonne by 2030. Cities can, for example, rely on data from Google that provides information about the solar potential and traffic emissions. According to Google, this data is now available for 3,000 cities worldwide.

Machine learning for less energy consumption

In addition, Google would like to make its own findings available to other companies. According to the company, machine learning has reduced energy consumption for cooling Google data centers by 30 percent. These findings are now also available to other companies via DeepMind and Google Cloud, for example to reduce energy consumption in airports, hospitals, data centers or shopping centers. In the USA, more than ten percent of energy consumption is generated by air conditioning of commercial buildings, according to Google.