Carbon-Free Energy

Operating on 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy by 2030.

Map showing average annual carbon-free energy performance at Google data centers in 2021
Carbon-free Energy Performance at Google Data Centers (2021)

In 2007, we became carbon neutral for our operations and in 2017, we became the first company of our size to match 100% of our global, annual electricity consumption with renewable energy. Over the past decade, Google purchased more renewable energy than any other company. Now, we’re carving a path forward to decarbonize our electricity supply and operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy, everywhere, by 2030.

Learn more about carbon-free energy
Image of Sundar Pichai announcing Google's next decade of climate action

Our third decade of climate action: Realizing a carbon-free future (opens in a new window)

Workers look out from atop an offshore wind turbine in the Belgian North Sea.

Join the Movement: 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact (opens in a new window)

24/7 Clean Energy: Every hour. Everywhere.

Our mission is to organize the world’s information. Every Google search you do requires a tiny amount of energy used by the servers in our data centers. With millions of searches per minute and trillions per year, it adds up to a whole lot of energy. Our mission won’t change, but we recognized early on that the energy we use to deliver our services must.

Why is energy important to Google? Reliable electricity supply from our data centers is the fuel that enables us to deliver your search results, emails, YouTube video plays, Cloud Platform services, and much more. And the emissions associated with our electricity consumption have comprised the majority of our carbon footprint.

We've worked hard to address our climate impacts. It began in 2007 when we became the first company to go carbon neutral for our operations because of our purchases of renewable energy and procurement of high-quality carbon credits. In the process, we worked to make Google data centers some of the most energy efficient in the world. In 2017, we became the first company of our size to match 100% of our annual electricity consumption with renewable energy. Over the past decade, Google purchased more renewable energy than any other company, based on our cumulative renewable electricity purchased in megawatt-hours from 2012 to 2021.

But we're not stopping there. Our 100% renewable match was only an interim solution, and the urgency of the climate challenge demands a bigger and bolder vision. That’s why we’ve announced a first-of-its-kind target to achieve 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy by 2030. But we can’t do it alone. That’s why in 2021, we launched a 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact with Sustainable Energy for All — an international organization working in partnership with the United Nations — to bring together an array of stakeholders on a collective mission to transform global electricity grids to “absolute zero” by advancing 24/7 Carbon-free Energy. We’re carving a path forward to fully decarbonize our electricity supply and operate on carbon-free energy entirely. Clean energy every hour, every day, everywhere. Read more about how we’re taking on this challenge in our white paper.

Iconography of Google’s energy journey from carbon neutrality, 100% renewable energy match, and ultimately net zero emissions and 24/7 carbon-free energy.

Accelerating the transition to carbon-free energy

Round-the-clock clean energy is something that’s never been done before, but at Google we never shy away from a challenge. To make 24/7 clean energy a reality for us, we need to help revolutionize energy for everyone. How? In 2019, we made the biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history at the time. We work with partners to help demonstrate and commercialize new technologies. We develop and advocate for policies to clean the electricity grid. We continuously apply our own software and machine learning to optimize clean energy across the industry. And we share our learnings and techniques so other companies can follow suit. It’s going to take all hands on deck to get it done, and it starts with us.

What this means for you

When we run our operations on round-the-clock clean energy, it means you are using a cleaner internet. This will mean every email you send through Gmail, every question you ask Google Search, every YouTube video you watch, and every route you take using Google Maps, is supplied by clean energy every hour of every day. 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy is about moving beyond offsets to remove carbon from our energy supply completely. Our energy projects not only help power our Google apps and services -- the large-scale installation of solar panels, wind turbines, and other clean energy technologies catalyze local economies and create local jobs. Every time you search, email, upload photos, or watch videos, you can be confident that we are making it happen with clean energy.

Animated graphic showing a first-of-its-kind system that shifts flexible tasks at our data centers to better align with carbon-free hours on the grid.

Learn about how we are reducing our data center carbon footprint by shifting demand to when the grid is cleaner.

Resources