For years, Google has been working on erasing its carbon
footprint by powering more and more of its operations via renewable energy
sources. Now it appears that the company is on the verge of reaching its 100%
renewable energy target by sometime in 2017. Google is already the world's
largest corporate buyer of renewable energy;
it may soon become the biggest mega-corporation to be able to claim 100%
renewable energy for all operations.
To be clear, reaching the 100% renewable energy goal does
not mean all of Google's operations will literally be powered exclusively by green energy. Due to the complexity of power
grids and energy production, that is just not possible at this time. What it
does mean is that the amount of electricity Google purchases from green sources
will be equal to the amount of power it consumes.
This is an important
distinction to make given that the technology sector is now responsible for
approximately 2% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Guardian.
Furthermore, the world's data centres represent some of the single largest
consumers of electricity. Aggressively pushing for more renewable energy use in
technology is not only necessary but it is the right thing to do.
A Good Move for Business
Google established its 100% renewable energy target back
in 2012. Google EU energy lead Marc Oman says it
took the company five years to reach its goal because negotiating power
purchase agreements is so complex. They have the size and resources to
wade through the process while smaller companies may struggle to do so. This is why companies like Google and Amazon
are leading the way in corporate renewable energy purchases.
Google purchased some 5.7 TW hours of green electricity in
2015. By contrast, all the renewable energy produced by solar panels in the UK
that same year equalled about 7.6 TW hours. That tells you how much electricity
Google is consuming between all its data centres and its US-based operations centre
with 60,000 employees.
Despite the challenges of reaching their target, Oman says
the decision to purchase 100% renewable power is a good business move for
Google. He insists they are not merely greenwashing – giving the appearance of
being environmentally responsible without actually taking steps to do so – but
they are improving their own operations
and profitability by concentrating on renewable energy.
Ironically, Google has also said that it would not rule
out investing in nuclear power in the future. Such an investment would lead to
the inevitable question of whether the company's claim of not greenwashing
stacks up with an investment in a power source that does not meet the same
green and renewable standards as wind and
solar.
Only time will tell what happens to nuclear power. In the
meantime, Google is closing in on its 100% renewable target. When the company actually achieves it, you can expect plenty of
fanfare and self-promotion. And why not? When that day comes, Google will have achieved something it
has been working on for quite some time.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/06/google-powered-100-renewable-energy-2017