Alphabet Google aims to power its data centers and offices 24-7 using solely carbon-free electricity by 2030, its chief executive told Reuters, building on its previous goal of matching its energy use with 100% renewable energy.
The “stretch goal,” as CEO Sundar Pichai described it, will force Google to move beyond the tech industry norm of offsetting carbon emissions from electricity use and require technological and political breakthroughs to achieve.
“The problem is so immense, many of us need to lead the way and show solutions,” Pichai said. “We’re one small player in this but we can set an example.”
Last year, Google switched on a carbon-intelligent computing platform, which moves compute tasks to other data centers based on when carbon-free energy sources like solar and wind are more widely available. More of those tasks might be scheduled during daylight hours, for instance. With the latest platform update, Google says it will shift a greater proportion of electricity use to where carbon-free energy sources are available. To begin with, the system will direct multimedia processing efforts (Photos and YouTube videos, for instance) to locations with the cleanest power grids as much as possible. A full list of Google’s 2030 commitment is available here.
Alphabet has also explored geothermal energy with Dandelion, a company that emerged from the X innovation lab. In 2020, Google said it had offset all of the carbon emissions it has ever generated.
