Google’s carbon emissions surge 51% as AI drives energy demand

Google’s carbon emissions have surged 51% since 2019 as artificial intelligence drives massive increases in datacenter energy consumption, derailing the tech giant’s climate commitments. The company reported a 27% year-over-year increase in electricity consumption, with AI’s power demands growing faster than Google can deploy clean energy solutions to offset them.

The big picture: AI’s explosive growth is creating an unprecedented energy challenge for tech companies, with datacenters projected to consume as much electricity as Japan by 2026.

• The International Energy Agency estimates datacenter electricity consumption could double from 2022 levels to 1,000TWh by 2026, roughly equivalent to Japan’s total electricity demand.
• Research firm SemiAnalysis calculates that AI will drive datacenters to consume 4.5% of global energy generation by 2030.
• Google’s scope 3 emissions—those from its supply chain—increased 22% in 2024, primarily driven by datacenter expansion needed to power AI models like Gemini.

Key challenge: Clean energy deployment is lagging behind AI’s voracious appetite for power, creating a widening gap between environmental goals and technological ambitions.

• Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), touted as a potential solution for carbon-free datacenter power, remain “behind schedule” according to Google’s report.
• The company cited “slower-than-needed deployment of carbon-free energy technologies at scale” as a critical obstacle to meeting 2030 climate targets.
• Google acknowledged that rapid AI evolution may drive “non-linear growth in energy demand,” making future emissions trajectories increasingly unpredictable.

What Google is doing: The company continues aggressive clean energy procurement while hoping AI applications will eventually offset their own carbon footprint.

• Since 2010, Google has signed over 170 agreements for more than 22 gigawatts of clean energy, with 8GW in new contracts signed in 2024 alone.
• The company brought 2.5GW of new clean energy online in 2024, marking a record year for clean energy deals.
• Google aims to help reduce 1 gigaton of carbon-equivalent emissions annually by 2030 through AI applications that optimize energy use and solar panel placement.

Important stats: Google’s total emissions reached 11.5 million tons of CO₂-equivalent gases, representing an 11% year-over-year increase.

• The 51% increase since 2019 was “primarily driven by increases in supply chain emissions” related to datacenter infrastructure.
• Despite the surge in AI-related emissions, Google did achieve one environmental milestone early: eliminating plastic packaging from all new products launched in 2024.

Why this matters: Google’s struggle illustrates the broader tension between AI innovation and climate commitments across the tech industry, highlighting the urgent need for breakthrough clean energy technologies to power the AI revolution sustainably.