What Does Google's 2025 Environmental Report Say About AI?
The technology sector is contending with a major problem in 2025: how to balance sustainability with the expansion of AI.
Despite pledging to reach net zero emissions, the carbon footprints of companies like Meta, Microsoft and Google are actually increasing as a result of their investments in new AI technologies and data centres which are extremely energy intensive.
Google, which is among the world's biggest AI investors (US$80bn in 2025), is aiming to be transparent about its sustainability, though, as can be seen in the firm's 2025 Environmental Report.
The report provides a comprehensive analysis of how it intends to address its emerging sustainability challenges whilst preserving the growth AI has brought to its services, including Search, YouTube and Gemini.
- Reduced data centre emissions by 12%
- Replenished 4.5 billion gallons of water
- Procured more than 8 GW of clean energy
- Improved the efficiency of its Ironwood TPU AI chips 30 times over
- Enabled 26 million tCO₂e emissions reductions through its to-market AI products
- Signed the world’s first corporate agreement for nuclear energy from small modular reactors (SMRs)
The role of data centres
Data centres serve as the powerhouse for Google's AI technologies. Typically, as a technology company expands, its data centre network grows in lock step.
But despite a 27% overall increase in electricity consumption, Google succeeded in cutting its data centre energy emissions by 12% in 2024.
But how has Google managed this? The Washington-based firm attributes this success to improvements in the efficiency of its data centres and to a substantial increase in clean energy procurement.
"We reduced our data centre energy emissions by 12%, even with growing energy demands," Google's report states.
The technology giant's data centres now provide six times more computing capacity per unit of electricity compared to five years ago, a progress largely attributed to Google's new Ironwood AI chip, which operates approximately 30 times more efficiently than its 2018 counterpart.
Google's renewable energy
A fundamental part of Google's sustainability strategy in recent years has been the procurement of renewable energy. In 2024 alone, Google signed agreements for more than 8GW of clean energy.
This represents the highest annual volume of clean energy in Google's history, encompassing projects in solar, wind, nuclear and geothermal energy.
Notable examples include a partnership Google has established with BlackRock for 1GW of solar capacity in Taiwan and its collaboration with Kairos Power to construct small modular nuclear reactors.
Remarkably, nine of Google's 20 grid regions housing data centres achieved at least 80% carbon-free energy, although this varies significantly between regions. In the Asia-Pacific region, for example, carbon-free energy accounts for merely 12% of Google's energy consumption.
The challenge of supply chain sustainability
Nevertheless, whilst Google's operational emissions are declining, its supply chain continues to present a persistent challenge. Many of the American company's suppliers — particularly in Asia — struggle to access renewable energy.
Google is attempting to resolve this through programmes like the Clean Energy Addendum.
The Addendum functions as a contractual provision, requiring suppliers to match 100% of the electricity used in manufacturing Google products with clean sources. By the end of 2024, several major suppliers had committed to this initiative.
"This is about building for the future through new advanced energy innovations and deeper supplier engagement, both of which are core parts of our strategy as we work toward our climate moonshots, 24/7 carbon free energy and Net Zero by 2030," explains Kate Brandt, CSO at Google.
AI as problem and solution
Google maintains that AI is not merely contributing to energy demand — it's also assisting in reducing emissions elsewhere.
"In 2024, five of our AI-powered solutions – Nest thermostats, Google Earth Pro, Solar API, fuel-efficient routing in Google Maps and Green Light – removed 26 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions," says James Manyika, SVP at Google.
For perspective, Google's total emissions in 2024 were 11.5 million metric tonnes.
Google estimates that if AI applications become widely adopted they could reduce global energy-related emissions by 4% by 2035, potentially delivering emissions cuts three to five times greater than AI's own projected footprint.
"We know there is much more work to be done, but I remain hopeful given the positive impact enabled by AI," Kate says.
"It's possible to advance the two great transformations of our time — the AI revolution and clean energy growth — hand in hand."
What Google's 2025 Environmental Report says about...
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