Google aims for carbon-free electricity by 2030

Tech giant Google plans to power its data centers and offices using only carbon-free electricity by 2030, its chief executive Sundar Pichai said.

The latest announcement builds on its previous target of meeting its energy usage with 100% renewable energy.

As CEO Sundar Pichai put it, the “stretch goal” would push Google to go beyond the tech industry norm of lowering carbon emissions from electricity usage and include technical and political breakthroughs.

“The problem is so immense, many of us need to lead the way and show solutions. We’re one small player in this but we can set an example,” Pichai said.

Google wants to bring more attention to its latest target and product features as the world becomes more aware of the disastrous effects of climate change thanks to the wildfires that are burning a record area this month in the west of the United States.

Google data suggests that last year, solar, wind and other renewable sources accounted for 61 percent of the global hourly consumption of electricity by the company. The proportion varied from country to country, with carbon-free sources at Google’s Oklahoma data center providing 96 percent of hourly power needs, compared to 3 percent in its gas-reliant Singapore building.

But Google is hopeful that it can bridge the gap with batteries for overnight storage of solar power, emerging sources such as geothermal reservoirs and better power needs management as it consumes relatively more power each year than residents and businesses in a region.

Though none of them have officially set a goal to curb carbon-based energy production, big Google rivals like Amazon and Microsoft have targeted eliminating more carbon from the environment than they generate over the coming decades.

Scientists warn that global warming will become disastrous if it is unchecked by 2030 and these tech giants share a common aim of catalyzing companies and governments to curb climate emissions by then.

Carbon neutral since 2007

Since 2007, Google has been carbon neutral. This means that it has purchased carbon credits, planted trees and funded vast quantities of wind power in areas where it is plentiful to balance its coal and natural gas power use in other regions. It also said that their estimated 1 million metric tons of emissions between 1998 (when it was launched) and 2006 have now been offset.

The company’s latest priorities include financing tree planting outside its mitigation needs and exchanging data or forming alliances with 500 governments around the world to try to reduce 1 gigaton of carbon emissions annually by 2030.

Google will also continue to reduce unrelated carbon emissions from energy use, such as from the travel of its employees.