Gemini training increases Google’s pollutant emissions

Google’s rising greenhouse gas emissions are making it harder for the tech giant to meet its climate goals, according to the company’s 2024 Environmental Report published on Tuesday (2). The energy spent on training AI tools is the main motivating factor.

According to the Mountain View company, Total emissions have increased by 48% since 2019Considering only 2023, carbon dioxide equivalent to 14.3 million metric tons of CO2 was produced._two The amount of energy released by 38 power plants in one year is 13% more than in 2022.

The increase in energy demand was mainly driven by the use of data centers. Last year, big tech added nearly 1 million tons of pollution to its numbers The twins are in the midst of their progress. Google is also highlighting its supply chain emissions.

“As we integrate AI more and more into our products, Reducing emissions may be challenging due to the increasing energy demands of increasing AI computing intensity and emissions associated with expected increases in our investments in technical infrastructure,” the report explains.

Minimizing the environmental impact of AI

Google has plans to achieve net zero emissions from its operations by 2030. To pursue this goal, the person responsible for Gemini states that it will take measures to reduce the environmental impact caused by technology, including: Make data centers, AI models, and hardware more energy efficient.

Other companies will face a similar challenge Data centers use 1% of the energy produced worldwideCurrently, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this consumption is expected to increase 10-fold by 2026 thanks to artificial intelligence tools.

For example, Microsoft, sees greenhouse gas emissions rise by 30% by 2023 Compared to 2020making it harder to meet climate goals. The company has also invested heavily in AI resources for its products.