Emissions grew by double-digits between 2022 and 2023, company admits in new sustainability report

Its peer companies are also struggling to contain their emissions.

Microsoft’s carbon emissions have grown by 29 percent since 2020, the company disclosed in May.
Amazon, which hasn’t disclosed its 2022-2023 figures, said that between 2021 and 2022, emissions fell by a modest 0.4 percent, though they were still up roughly 40 percent overall since 2019.

Energy officials warn that the growth of AI will put a strain on the energy grid and the climate.
Global data center electricity demand is set to double between 2022 and 2026, according to the International Energy Agency.
In the US, data center electricity use is set to spike by 50 percent in that same period, per the IEA.

AI energy demand: Google’s emissions climb by nearly 50%

Energy
3rd July 2024

Innovation News Network

50 minutes ago

AI energy demand: Google's emissions climb by nearly 50%

Google blames AI as its emissions grow instead of heading to net zero

Google points to artificial intelligence and the demand it puts on energy-hungry data centres for its growth in emissions.

Three years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going “net zero”, meaning it would release no more climate-changing gases into the air than it removes, by 2030.
But a report from the company on Tuesday showed it is nowhere near meeting that goal.

The Business Times

12 hours ago

Google's emissions shot up 48% over five years due to AI

Rather than declining, its emissions grew 13 percent in 2023 over the year before. Compared with its baseline year of 2019, emissions have soared 48 percent.
Google cited artificial intelligence and the demand it puts on data centres, which require massive amounts of electricity, for last year’s growth.
Making that electricity by burning coal or natural gas emits greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane, which warm the planet, bringing more extreme weather.

Times of India

2 hours ago

Google's AI ambitions comes with 'big green problem'; and why the company is not alone here - Times of India

The company has made one of industry’s most significant climate commitments and has been seen as a leader.

Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, said Google should be doing more to partner with cleaner companies and invest in the electrical grid.
“The reality is that we are far behind what we could already be doing now with the technology that we have, with the resources that we have, in terms of advancing the transition,” she said.

Google Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt told The Associated Press news agency, “Reaching this net zero goal by 2030, this is an extremely ambitious goal.
“We know this is not going to be easy and that our approach will need to continue to evolve,” Brandt added, “and it will require us to navigate a lot of uncertainty, including this uncertainty around the future of AI’s environmental impacts.”

Skift Research
11 hours ago
Carbon Offsets: Fact from Fiction
AI electricity demand
Some experts said the rapidly expanding data centres needed to power AI threaten the entire transition to clean electricity, an important part of addressing climate change. That’s because a new data centre can delay the closure of a power plant that burns fossil fuels or prompt a new one to be built. Data centres are not only energy-intensive, but they also require high-voltage transmission lines and need significant amounts of water to stay cool. They are also noisy.
They often are built where electricity is cheapest, not where renewables, such as wind and solar, are a key source of energy.

Global data centre and AI electricity demand could double by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency

Other major tech company sustainability plans are also challenged by the proliferation of data centers.

They caused Microsoft’s emissions to grow 29 percent above its 2020 baseline, the company said in an environmental sustainability report in May.

Tech companies make the case that while AI is contributing to climate change, it’s also helping to address it.
In the case of Google, that could mean using data to predict future flooding or making traffic flow more efficiently to save petrol.
Amanda Smith, senior scientist at the climate nonprofit Project Drawdown, said those who use AI – both large companies and individuals just making memes – need to do so responsibly, meaning using the energy only when it benefits society.
“It’s up to us as humans to watch what we’re doing with it and to question why we’re doing that,” Smith added. “When it’s worth it, we can make sure that those demands are going to be met by clean sources of power.”

Google’s emissions grew last year in part because the company used more energy; 25,910 gigawatt hours more, an increase from the year before and more than double the hours of energy consumed just four years earlier. A gigawatt hour is roughly the energy that a power plant serving several hundred thousand households puts out in one hour.

On the positive side, as Google’s consumption grows, so has its use of renewable power.

The company said in 2020 it would meet its enormous need for electricity using only clean energy every hour of every day by 2030 all over the world.
Last year, Google said, it saw an average of 64 percent carbon-free energy for its data centers and offices around the globe.
The company said its data centers are on average 1.8 times as energy efficient as others in the industry.

Sachs credited Google for its ambition and honesty but said she hopes “that Google would join us in a more rigorous conversation about how to accelerate” clean energy amid the climate crisis, “so that it doesn’t get much worse before it starts getting better”.
SOURCE: AP

YourValley.net

Google plans $600M investment in Mesa with data center, mayor says | Mesa Independent

EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure Hires William Jabjiniak to Lead National Community Engagement

NEWS PROVIDED BY

EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

Nov 29, 2023, 08:00 ET

Jabjiniak brings over 30 years' experience in public service and economic development to establish mutually beneficial relationships within current and future EdgeCore markets

DENVER, Nov. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, a wholesale data center developer, owner and operator, today announced the appointment of William "Bill" Jabjiniak as Senior Vice President of National Community Engagement. In his role, Jabjiniak will be responsible for community engagement programs nationwide for both existing EdgeCore data center markets and prospective new markets with the goal of collaboratively supporting the key issues held by various communities and local governments in which EdgeCore does business.

Bill Jabjiniak, SVP of National Community Engagement at EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

Prior to joining EdgeCore, Bill served as Director of Economic Development for the City of Mesa, Arizona for 16 years, where he focused on business attraction, retention and expansion, redevelopment, and revitalization programs to grow the local economy and expand industries of opportunity like healthcare, education, and aerospace. During his tenure at Mesa's Office of Economic Development, Bill led his team to create and retain over 29,000 jobs, landed more than 421 projects, and generated $14.4 billion of capital investment for the city.

"We've had the pleasure of working with Bill in his position within the City of Mesa and have seen firsthand how his deep expertise in local government can add tremendous value and foster positive relationships throughout a community," said Clint Heiden, Chief Commercial Officer, EdgeCore. "Bill's reputation in the Phoenix Metro Area and across the country is a testament to his passion and dedication to local communities and we couldn't be happier to have him join the EdgeCore team."

"EdgeCore has a great reputation in the industry and is committed to building positive, lasting relationships throughout the communities in its active and prospective markets," said Bill Jabjiniak, SVP of National Community Engagement, EdgeCore. "I look forward to being an integral part of this high-performing team."

Prior to the City of Mesa, Jabjiniak served as Director of Economic Development for the City of Richmond, Virginia and served as Destination Manchester Coordinator in the Office of the Mayor for the City of Manchester, New Hampshire. His career spans over 30 years and has included multiple accolades for public service and community leadership.