Environmental protection: cloud technologies for a better planet    

Editor's Note: Katie Brewis, EMEA Head of Sustainability at Google, talks about the challenges of sustainable business management and explains how Google Cloud tools and technologies contribute to a carbon-free world. 

Climate change is a global problem that is becoming more pressing every year: the past decade has been the hottest on record 140 years ago. The global IT infrastructure also contributes to the global carbon tax. An estimated 1% of global electricity consumption can be attributed to data centers alone. 

The good news: companies are in a position to change course and do something for the environment. To create the cleanest cloud in the world, Google Cloud has developed numerous solutions and invested in innovative technologies over the past two decades.

The supply of data centers, offices and infrastructure will continue to require a lot of electricity in the future. The procurement of clean energy is all the more important so that companies can pave the way to a renewable future. As the world's largest corporate consumer of renewable energies, Google's mission is not only to use carbon-free energy internally, but to make it accessible to consumers of all kinds. 

Regular milestones underpin this mission: In 2007, Google became the first large , climate-neutral company, and in 2017, the first company to offset 100% of its energy consumption with renewable energies. And the years before are not ignored: Google has now invested enough in high-quality climate compensation to offset all of the emissions since the company was founded in 1998. As a result, Google has mathematically freed Mother Earth from its carbon footprint. 

Looking ahead, Google recently announced its commitment to become the first large carbon-free company by 2030 . That means: 100% CO2-free energy, around the clock. 

The data centers also play an important role in this sustainability strategy. The more efficiently they operate, the more sustainably customers can use Google's services. Energy-saving servers developed in-house, highly efficient computer chips (TPUs) and innovative water supply solutions for cooling systems are just a few examples of the efficiency-increasing measures in Google's data centers. 

Google Cloud is committed to using these technologies as part of a broader sustainability strategy that has resulted in the new platform for adaptive controls in collaboration with DeepMind . This will make Google data centers more sustainable and commercial and industrial plants more efficient worldwide. 

But efficiency on paper is not enough, you have to measure it. Google therefore determines a so-called PUE value (Power Usage Effectiveness) for all data centers. The result: On average, a Google data center is twice as energy efficient as a conventional data center.

In a circular economy, materials, components and products should be manufactured in such a way that they can easily be reused, repaired or recycled. It is based on three basic principles that Google follows: avoiding waste, maximizing the life of products and materials, and promoting healthy materials and safe chemicals.

For example, Google has long been working to get the most out of every element in its data centers. Materials are used repeatedly or passed on to other organizations if there is no longer any need internally. In 2019, Google was able to find a new purpose for 90% of the waste products from global data center operations, 19% of the components for server upgrades consisted of refurbished parts.

Because companies can reduce their environmental footprint by providing advanced technologies, Google Cloud is always striving to make innovative tools as customer-friendly as possible. Many solutions from the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) or the new platform for adaptive controls focus on sustainability. 

The French retail group Carrefour also had sustainability in mind when it started its collaboration with Google Cloud in 2018. The problem? European supermarkets dispose of more than four million tons of food every year . That corresponds to ten kilograms per EU citizen. To reduce food waste, Carrefour and Google Cloud embarked on a joint project for an AI solution that could accurately predict the need for fresh produce in each store. Waste - and costs - are minimized because employees receive exactly the information they need to replenish shelves as needed.

Another partnership that is making progress towards sustainability through the use of technology is the one between Google Cloud and WWF Sweden in collaboration with the British label Stella McCartney to make the fashion industry more sustainable while saving costs. The fashion industry is responsible for around 20% of global wastewater production and 10% of all CO₂-free emissions . The result of this collaboration: A tool that gives fashion labels a more comprehensive overview of their supply chains and provides actionable insights into how emissions and waste production can be reduced when sourcing raw materials.

Sustainable action affects our environment and requires team effort. This is precisely why Google Cloud is developing tools and technologies that other companies and organizations around the world can use to shape a more sustainable future for our planet. You can find out more about this on our website on sustainability .