🔮 If the world ran like Google...

A thought experiment to put Google’s carbon emissions in perspective

What if the world’s economies were as carbon-efficient as Google? Global emissions would plummet below those of the United States or China. This hypothetical scenario emerges from recent data showing Google’s increased carbon emissions as it invested in energy-hungry datacenters. 

This has been a conversation over which members of Exponential View do not agree in our Slack group (if you’re not in yet, apply to join here) and it’s inspired me to break down how I think about all this.

You may have spotted the story yesterday on Bloomberg or read it in the Financial Times: Google’s carbon emissions are up by half since 2019—and it is down to data centres. With the demands of AI coming down the pipe, in 2023, the firm emitted 14.3 megatons of CO2, up 13% on 2022 and 48% on 2019. 

Yesterday’s headlines in the FT and Bloomberg

At first glance, this seems like an environmental faux pas of colossal proportions. But is it actually? Let’s zoom out and view this through a wider lens. The reality is…