Artificial intelligence has the potential to change a lot of things... if not everything. We use it to plan a vacation, lose weight, or even learn how to code. But as powerful as AI is, building and running it also takes a lot of resources: electricity, water, and more. And it’s coming with a growing environmental cost... one that’s not always obvious. And it puts tech companies in a tough spot.
Google is one of them. AI progress may be moving fast, but so are its climate goals. Its latest environmental report, alongside independent analysis, gives us a look behind the scenes at what it takes to keep up with AI demand while trying to stay green.
On one side, there’s rising energy use and water needs. On the other, there are big investments in clean energy and efforts to cut emissions. What Google does next could help define how AI and sustainability can work together in practice.
AI is both software and powerful computers. All these need a lot of energy. They also need water to stay cool and work well. As Google’s AI infrastructure continues to grow, demand for both is going up fast.
Google’s environmental report says nearly 96% of the company’s electricity in 2024 went to its data centers. And that total is growing quickly. In 2020, Google used 14.4 million megawatt-hours of electricity. By 2024, that number more than doubled to 30.8 million.
In just the past year, electricity use in Google’s data centers jumped by 27%, driven by the heavy demands of AI systems.
Along with energy, Google uses a lot of water to keep its servers from overheating. In 2024, its data centers used 8.1 billion gallons of water — up 28% compared to the year before. That’s about the same amount needed to maintain 54 golf courses for a year.
The trend is even clearer — from 2016 to 2024, water use at Google’s data centers went up 340%.
However, even as demand rises, Google is trying to run its systems more efficiently. The company says its data centers used 84% less overhead energy than the industry average in 2024.
It’s also improving its AI models, increasing training efficiency by 39%.
Plus, AI can help the environment in other ways. Google says its AI-powered tools — like smart heating and cooling systems — helped customers cut 26 million metric tons of carbon emissions in 2024. This shows how data center emissions could be offset by the positive impact AI has elsewhere.
Google is investing heavily in clean power. It’s not just trying to match its power use with renewables over a year — its aim is to run on carbon-free energy 24 hours a day.
Even though data center electricity use went up by 27% in 2024, emissions tied to that electricity dropped by 12%. That’s because of cleaner energy sources. The company says it’s now running on 66% carbon-free energy on an hourly basis, thanks to over 25 new clean energy projects added to its global operations.
In 2024, Google added over 8 gigawatts of clean energy through 60 new contracts—its biggest clean energy purchase to date. That includes big solar projects: 600 megawatts in South Carolina and 700 megawatts in Oklahoma.
Google is also looking at newer energy sources. It’s investing in advanced geothermal and nuclear energy to make sure it can access clean power all day.
For example, the company plans to purchase 500 megawatts from Kairos Power’s modular nuclear reactor and 200 megawatts from Commonwealth Fusion Systems. These investments may not pay off immediately, but if the tech matures, they could help Google keep AI running without carbon.
Google is also working on how its data centers interact with local power grids. The goal is to help manage energy better and make it easier to use more renewable sources.
Moreover, Google is asking suppliers to get on board with its sustainability efforts. With a Clean Energy Addendum, it now requires certain partners to power their own operations with 100% clean electricity.
Because Google is such a big name in tech and has made some big climate promises, people are keeping a close eye on what it’s doing. As AI grows and Google keeps building new tools and services, many are asking whether the company can stick to its environmental goals.
A recent report from the Kairos Fellowship points out that even though Google has made its operations more efficient, its overall emissions have gone up a lot — by 1,515% since 2010. That doesn’t mean the company is doing nothing. It just means its size and the amount of work it does today are much bigger than they were back then.
The company is transparent that its total emissions did increase by 11% year-on-year. A big reason for that is supply chain emissions — things like manufacturing equipment or building hardware. These are known as Scope 3 emissions, and they’re a difficult area for any global company to decarbonize.
Still, Google hasn’t tried to hide this. The company regularly reports on its emissions and says it’s working to reduce them across all parts of its business, not just in its own offices and data centers, but also with suppliers and partners.
Google has publicly committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2030. Some people think that might be too hard to achieve, at least on that timeline. It’s because some of the clean technologies Google is counting on, like advanced nuclear or next-gen clean energy, aren’t widely available yet.
Another challenge is location. Clean power isn’t available in the same way everywhere. While North American data centers currently run on 70% carbon-free energy, that drops to 12% in the Asia-Pacific region and just 5% in the Middle East and Africa. Until all the locations around the world catch up, carbon-free operations 24/7 might be hard to achieve, regardless of how ambitious Google’s plans are.
Google has said it knows this is a big challenge, and it’s investing in new energy projects to help close those gaps. At the same time, the company admits this is not a problem it can solve alone.
As a Google Cloud Premier Partner, we see up close how these environmental goals shape the tools, infrastructure, and services Google offers. Cleaner, more efficient data centers mean our customers are using technology that’s better for the environment — even if they might not see it.
We also help businesses grow while trying to reduce their impact on the environment: how to grow in a cleaner way, how to work with suppliers, and how to use better energy.
We don’t have all the answers yet, but we know that tech and sustainability can’t be separate conversations anymore. If you want to know more about how to make your tech stack greener, reach out to us for a free consultation.