Three years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going 鈥渘et zero,鈥 meaning it would release no more climate-changing gases into the air than it removes, by 2030.
But a report from the company Tuesday shows it is nowhere near meeting that goal.
Rather than declining, its emissions grew 13% in 2023 over the year before. Compared to its baseline year of 2019, emissions have soared 48%.
Google cited artificial intelligence and the , which require massive amounts of electricity, for last year鈥檚 growth.
Making that electricity by burning coal or natural gas emits greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane, which warm the planet, bringing .
The company has one of the most significant climate commitments in industry 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.
鈥淭he 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,鈥 she said.
Google Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt told The Associated Press, 鈥淩eaching this net zero goal by 2030, this is an extremely ambitious goal.
鈥淲e 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鈥檚 environmental impacts.鈥
Some experts say the needed to power AI threaten the entire transition to clean electricity, an important part of addressing climate change. That's because a new data center can delay the closure of a power plant or prompt a new one to be built. are not only energy-intensive, they and need to stay cool. They are also .
They often are built where electricity is cheapest, not where renewables, such as wind and solar, are a key source of energy.
Global data center and AI electricity demand by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency.
Other major tech company sustainability plans are also challenged by the proliferation of . They caused Microsoft's emissions to grow 29% above its 2020 baseline, the company said in an in May.
Tech companies make the case that AI, including tools such as ChatGPT, is not only partially causing 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 gasoline.
Amanda Smith, senior scientist at the climate nonprofit Project Drawdown, said those who use AI 鈥 both large companies and individuals just making memes 鈥 need to do so responsibly, meaning using the energy only when it benefits society.
鈥淚t鈥檚 up to us as humans to watch what we鈥檙e doing with it and to question why we鈥檙e doing that,鈥 Smith added. 鈥淲hen it鈥檚 worth it, we can make sure that those demands are going to be met by clean sources of power.鈥
Google鈥檚 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鈥檚 consumption grows, so has its use of renewable power.
The company said in 2020 it would meet its massive need for electricity using only clean energy every hour of every day by 2030, all over the world. Last year, Google says, it saw an average of 64% carbon-free energy for its data centers and offices around the globe. The company says are, on average, 1.8 times as energy efficient as others in the industry.
Sachs, at Columbia University, credited Google for its ambition and honesty, but said she hopes 鈥渢hat Google would join us in a more rigorous conversation about how to accelerate" clean energy amid the climate crisis, "so that it doesn鈥檛 get much worse before it starts getting better.鈥
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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate solutions reporter. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, . Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.
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The Associated Press鈥 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP鈥檚 for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at .
