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An analysis by The Guardian reveals that the actual greenhouse gas emissions from Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Apple’s data centers may be 7.6 times higher than what these companies officially report. From 2020 to 2022, emissions from their company-owned data centers could be up to 662% higher than their public claims. This discrepancy highlights the increasing energy demands driven by AI, which is far more power-hungry than previous technologies like cloud computing.
These companies have touted carbon neutrality, but much of their claims rest on "creative accounting," particularly using Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). RECs allow firms to claim renewable energy purchases without actually consuming it, which masks their true carbon emissions. By using location-based emissions data, which tracks actual energy consumption from a company's facilities, the scale of the problem becomes clear—if these tech giants were a country, their emissions would rank as the 33rd largest emitter globally, behind the Philippines.
As AI continues to grow, the energy needs of data centers are expected to surge, with projections of a 160% increase in demand by 2030. While companies like Google and Microsoft are working to shift to cleaner energy sources, their emissions from both in-house and third-party data centers remain largely underreported, especially in the critical Scope 3 category, which includes indirect emissions from outsourced operations.
Despite promises of sustainability, experts warn that the demand for power may soon outpace supply, with concerns growing about whether current energy grids can support this increasing burden. As data centers expand to accommodate AI’s rise, the true environmental impact of big tech’s operations is becoming harder to ignore.
