Google Aims to Use Only Renewable Energy by 2030

Google aims to power its data centers and offices solely with renewable energy by 2030, its chief executive told media, becoming the biggest company in the world to commit to ditching coal and natural gas power. The "stretch goal," as CEO Sundar Pichai described it, will force Google to move beyond the tech industry norm of offseting carbon emissions from electricity use and require technological and political breakthroughs to achieve. Wind, solar and other renewable sources accounted for 61% of Google's global hourly electricity usage last year. The proportion varied by facility, with carbon-free sources fulfilling 96% of hourly power needs at Google's wind-swept Oklahoma data center compared with 3% at its gas-reliant Singapore operation. But Google, which consumes slightly more power annually worldwide than residents and businesses in Delaware, has grown optimistic that it can bridge the gap with batteries to store solar power overnight, emerging sources such as geothermal reservoirs and better management of power needs. "To plan 24/7 hourly being carbon-free in our data centers and campuses around the world, we see an enormous logistics challenge, which is why we've been hard at work modeling the last year how to get there," Pichai said. "And we feel confident we can get there by 2030."