Google's Giorgio Fortunato underscores the company's commitment to leveraging technology for optimising operations and reducing carbon emissions.
In the grand transition towards a lower carbon future, technology emerges as a pivotal driving force. In this SIEW TechTable session on "Digitalisation: Technological Innovation and 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy", Google’s Head of APAC Data Center Energy, Giorgio Fortunato, shared about the company's efforts in technological innovation. Its ambitious mission: to power its data centers and office campuses with 24/7 carbon-free energy.
Every Google search counts
To set the stage, Mr Fortunato shared an intriguing nugget. Every Google search consumes power. In 2022, Google’s annual electricity consumption exceeded a whopping 21 terawatts—enough to power 1,500 to 2,000 average-sized homes in the US for an entire year—and is set to rise further. Given that energy is the biggest operating cost of operating Google's infrastructure, he reiterated that "the stakes to our business are very high".
Despite the immense challenge, Google has transformed this into an opportunity to become an industry leader in energy. Its ambitious goals are twofold: to reduce its own emissions, and to accelerate the global energy transition towards a net zero economy.
Efficiency redefined
One significant step which Google has taken is to turn its data centres into some of the most efficient in the world. Even as demand has surged, Google has improved its environmental performance, outperforming typical enterprise data centres by 1.5 times in energy efficiency. Additionally, Google has delivered three times as much computing power using the same amount of electricity. This means Google is getting a lot more Google searches, Gmails, and YouTube videos from the same amount of energy.
The 24/7 carbon-free vision
Google’s sustainability journey doesn't stop here. Mr Fortunato elaborated that Google aims to run on carbon-free energy "everywhere at all times". 24/7 carbon-free energy is Google's biggest sustainability motion thus far. It is pursuing this in three main ways:
- Purchasing carbon-free electricity on each grid where Google operates
- Commercialising next-generation clean energy technologies
- Working with partners to advocate for policies to drive decarbonised electricity grids around the world
Mr Fortunato concluded by acknowledging that the path to net zero emissions is undoubtedly challenging. However, he shared that Google feels fortunate to be working diligently with numerous partners on this shared journey where some day, 24/7 carbon-free energy will no longer be a dream but a reality.
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