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Google to run datacentres on renewable energy by 2030

Tech giant claims industry-first in eradicating lifetime carbon footprint

Google has launched an ambitious new plan that would see it run all of its datacentres and campuses off renewable energy by 2030.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet, claimed that the organisation had eliminated its carbon legacy as of today, adding that it was the "first major company" to see its lifetime carbon footprint hit zero.

Referencing the historic wildfires currently ravaging parts of the US, Pichai stated that the company is now developing its sustainability goals further to help avert the worst consequences of climate change.

"By 2030 Google is aiming to run our business on carbon-free energy everywhere, at all times," he wrote in a blog post.

"This is our biggest sustainability moonshot yet, with enormous practical and technical complexity. We are the first major company that's set out to do this, and we aim to be the first to achieve it.

"This is far more challenging than the traditional approach of matching energy usage with renewable energy, but we're working to get this done by 2030."

The organisation will pair wind and solar energy and increase its use of battery storage to ensure around-the-clock renewable energy in its operations, as well as investing in new carbon-free methods that would allow it to run its datacentres and offices around the world.

The CEO stated that these environmental commitments will directly result in over 20,000 new jobs in clean energy, and associated industries, globally within the next five years.

"We were the first major company to become carbon neutral in 2007. We were the first major company to match our energy use with 100 per cent renewable energy in 2017," he reflected.

"We operate the cleanest global cloud in the industry, and we're the world's largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy. In our third decade of climate action, we are going even further to help build a carbon-free future for everyone."

Pichai added that the company has eradicated its entire carbon legacy - its operational emissions prior to becoming carbon neutral in 2007 - by purchasing carbon offsets.

Google is working to allow partners and organisations to reduce and remove their own carbon emissions from the atmosphere by making its datacentre-cooling technology available to them, he added.

He also announced a €10m Impact Challenge fund in Europe to support ideas and projects that support sustainability.

"We're optimistic that by harnessing new technologies, investing in the right infrastructure and tools, and empowering partners, nonprofits and people, this can be the most decisive decade for climate action yet," Pichai stated.

"We're proud to do our part, and to help move the world closer to a carbon-free future for all."

Microsoft's marine marvel

Google is not the only tech giant with ambitious carbon goals; in January, Microsoft announced its plans to become "carbon-negative" by 2030.

Part of this mission involves piloting schemes that will reduce carbon emissions in datacentres, including an experimental underwater datacentre.

Microsoft's Project Natick saw the company deploy an underwater datacentre off the Orkney Islands in Scotland in 2018.

The vessel was retrieved this July, after 25 months underwater. The results from the project indicate an underwater datacentre can run well on what most land-based datacentres consider an unreliable grid.

It also found that the high reliability of the servers and few failings means that fewer replacement parts may be needed, leading to a more sustainable datacentre environment.

Microsoft is using the data gained from the project to develop conversations around more energy-efficient datacentre technologies.