The tech giants' carbon footprint is growing, and it's not just their own operations. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google's collective emissions have surged by nearly 20% in the past year, reaching 119 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This is a significant jump from the previous year's 101 million metric tonnes, which is roughly equivalent to the emissions of the Czech Republic. The primary culprit? The construction of datacentres, a boom driven by the demand for cloud services and AI technologies. The world's largest tech companies are investing a staggering $765 billion in AI datacentre infrastructure this year, with projects spanning from Norway to North Tyneside. This is a stark reversal from their previous efforts to reduce carbon emissions, as Microsoft's emissions appeared to have plateaued at 16 million metric tonnes in 2023 and 2024. The increasing emissions are closely tied to the companies' AI investments, as highlighted by Professor Shaolei Ren. The situation is further complicated by the limited availability of carbon credits, which are essential for offsetting emissions. As the demand for AI tools and models grows, so do the proposals for new datacentres. JLL, a US property consultancy, predicts the construction of 1,200 datacentres globally by 2030, with AI driving the majority of this demand. This boom in datacentre building is accompanied by a massive increase in power consumption. The Uptime Institute estimates that large datacentre projects announced last year would consume 1.3% of the world's electricity, nearly doubling current demand. The US, in particular, is expected to bear the brunt of this new power demand. As these tech giants continue to expand their cloud services and AI capabilities, the question arises: How can they reconcile their growing emissions with their stated goals of net zero emissions? Cecilia Rikap, an economics professor, suggests that their claims of ecological friendliness are mere marketing strategies. Governments and consumers alike must consider the environmental impact of these companies' cloud services and AI solutions, as the outsourcing of digital/AI carbon footprints to cloud giants may obscure the true extent of their environmental impact.
