Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have surged by nearly 50 percent over the past five years, driven by the energy demands of data centers powering artificial intelligence, according to the company’s 2024 Environmental Report.
This spike poses a significant challenge to Google’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
AI features, including model training, are highly energy-intensive. A 2023 study by researchers at AI startup Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University found that generating a single image using AI consumes as much energy as charging a smartphone.
Google’s extensive AI initiatives include projects like Gemini, generative AI tools, and the addition of over 100 languages to its translation services, as well as rumored AI chatbots.
The report indicates that Google anticipates its total greenhouse gas emissions will rise before eventually decreasing towards its absolute emissions reduction target, although it does not specify the factors that will lead to this eventual drop.