Pretty much like its competitors, Google has been focusing on including sustainability as a core part of its products/services for a long time now. The company is about to get started with its “third decade of climate change” and therefore to make it even more special, Sundar Pichai has announced to go completely carbon-free this time.
Alphabet & Google’s CEO started off the pledge by stressing upon the importance of how the world needs to react as soon as possible if together we want to fight the after-effects of climate change. As a reference, he also mentioned the wildfires that occurred in West Coast and resulted in orange Northern California skies.
Pichai then made the announcement of a long-desired pledge that is based on operating with carbon-free energy 24/7 around the globe by 2030. He is aiming for Google and other tech companies to match the annual electricity consumption with 100% renewable energy and if this happens, then it would be considered as the biggest sustainability achievement of any tech giant to date.
The CEO also went onto explain how this would involve so much practical and technical complexity, but at the same time, he is positive about making Google one of the first company to do this.
As a result, you will soon be seeing Google’s data centers and campuses supplying clean energy at every hour of the day. Moreover, Google is also planning to invest in opportunities that would be able to source reliable carbon-free energy in all locations inside their campuses, at all times of day. For this, the company might even use batteries for storage or compliment solar with wind, or vice versa. Nevertheless, this all won’t be practically possible without AI playing the much-needed role in forecasting and optimizing electricity demand.
Furthermore, Pichai also revealed that Google’s lifetime net carbon footprint is now zero and the company is also on the move to create 5 GW in carbon-free energy investments all across the key manufacturing regions by the end of 2030. It will help 500 cities in reducing 1 gigaton of carbon emissions per year - which again is a massive feat to achieve.
For short term goal, Google wishes to help 1 billion users by introducing new tools that will guide them in making more sustainable choices for their every day lives by 2022. This idea will revolve around surfacing bike-sharing, EV charging in Maps, and the option of letting users book the least carbon-intensive airline with Google Flights as well.
Read next: Here are the salaries of Google employees in key roles
Alphabet & Google’s CEO started off the pledge by stressing upon the importance of how the world needs to react as soon as possible if together we want to fight the after-effects of climate change. As a reference, he also mentioned the wildfires that occurred in West Coast and resulted in orange Northern California skies.
Pichai then made the announcement of a long-desired pledge that is based on operating with carbon-free energy 24/7 around the globe by 2030. He is aiming for Google and other tech companies to match the annual electricity consumption with 100% renewable energy and if this happens, then it would be considered as the biggest sustainability achievement of any tech giant to date.
The CEO also went onto explain how this would involve so much practical and technical complexity, but at the same time, he is positive about making Google one of the first company to do this.
As a result, you will soon be seeing Google’s data centers and campuses supplying clean energy at every hour of the day. Moreover, Google is also planning to invest in opportunities that would be able to source reliable carbon-free energy in all locations inside their campuses, at all times of day. For this, the company might even use batteries for storage or compliment solar with wind, or vice versa. Nevertheless, this all won’t be practically possible without AI playing the much-needed role in forecasting and optimizing electricity demand.
Furthermore, Pichai also revealed that Google’s lifetime net carbon footprint is now zero and the company is also on the move to create 5 GW in carbon-free energy investments all across the key manufacturing regions by the end of 2030. It will help 500 cities in reducing 1 gigaton of carbon emissions per year - which again is a massive feat to achieve.
For short term goal, Google wishes to help 1 billion users by introducing new tools that will guide them in making more sustainable choices for their every day lives by 2022. This idea will revolve around surfacing bike-sharing, EV charging in Maps, and the option of letting users book the least carbon-intensive airline with Google Flights as well.
Read next: Here are the salaries of Google employees in key roles
