Weekly Sustainability Roundup: July 15 - July 20, 2025 Edition
In the rapidly evolving landscape of clean energy, Google is making significant strides in its commitment to a carbon-neutral future. Despite facing challenges from increased AI-related energy demand and infrastructure limitations, the tech giant has made notable progress in reducing its emissions and investing in renewable energy sources.
Last year, Google achieved a 12% reduction in data center emissions, even as electricity use grew 27%. This was made possible by major clean energy procurement deals amounting to 8 gigawatts—double the volume from the previous year—and efficiency upgrades, including a new chip design that is 30 times more power-efficient than its 2018 model. Google powered 66% of its global operations with carbon-free electricity in 2024, with nine grid regions surpassing 80% carbon-free energy. The company also expanded its carbon removal portfolio, signing 16 new offtake agreements for over 728,000 tonnes of CO2 removal credits in 2024.
However, Google's overall emissions have increased 51% since 2019, reflecting the fast growth in AI and data center operations. The company acknowledges that achieving net-zero by 2030 is becoming more complex due to slow deployment of carbon-free energy at scale, emerging market challenges, and the high cost and early stage of promising technologies like geothermal and small modular nuclear reactors. Google emphasises that infrastructure availability and policy uncertainties remain major hurdles.
To enhance clean energy integration and storage, Google recently entered a global commercial partnership with Energy Dome, a firm specialising in long-duration "CO2 battery" energy storage technology. This could improve grid flexibility and carbon-free electricity availability.
Meanwhile, the banking sector is also gearing up to address climate-related risks. India announced it will issue climate risk disclosure rules for banks within the next few months, following similar moves by other countries.
Elsewhere, Nestlé and Barry Callebaut have launched a partnership to restore degraded areas in Brazil's cocoa and coffee regions. The project focuses on reforestation and sustainable agricultural practices, aiming to enhance biodiversity and carbon sequestration in these regions.
In London, the CN Sustainability Summit concluded on July 15, 2025. The event offered practical tools and insights for event organisers to implement sustainable practices, and announced progress in reducing the environmental impact of the events industry.
In Kenya, engineers began using geothermal steam to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air on July 18, 2025. This marks an advancement in direct air carbon capture, a promising technology for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
As the world continues to grapple with climate change, these initiatives serve as a testament to the collective efforts being made towards a sustainable future. Google's unwavering commitment to clean energy and net-zero emissions, despite the challenges, is a beacon of hope in this global endeavour.
[1] Google's 2024 Environmental Report [2] Google's 2024 Sustainability Report [3] Google's 2024 Carbon Removal Report [4] Google's Press Release on Energy Dome Partnership (Date of release unspecified)
- Google's commitment to a carbon-neutral future includes investing in renewable energy sources and reducing its emissions, as evident in the 12% decrease in data center emissions last year.
- The tech giant has made significant progress in this area through major clean energy procurement deals, efficiency upgrades, and the development of power-efficient chips.
- Google aims to power 100% of its global operations with carbon-free electricity and has expanded its carbon removal portfolio to achieve this goal.
- However, Google's overall emissions have increased due to the fast growth in AI and data center operations, highlighting the complexities of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030.
- To address this, Google has partnered with Energy Dome, a firm specializing in long-duration energy storage technology, to improve grid flexibility and carbon-free electricity availability.
- Meanwhile, the banking sector is addressing climate-related risks, with India announcing climate risk disclosure rules for banks.
- Elsewhere in the world, companies like Nestlé and Barry Callebaut are focusing on sustainable agricultural practices to enhance biodiversity and carbon sequestration, while engineering advancements in direct air carbon capture technology are being made in Kenya.
