Google Admits the Problem: The Race for AI is Complicating Climate Goals
Artificial intelligence is becoming one of the main factors driving energy consumption growth among major cloud operators, and Google's new Environmental Report 2025 provides a detailed snapshot of this transformation. The company acknowledges that the rapid expansion of the infrastructure needed to support services such as Gemini, Google Cloud, Search, and YouTube is resulting in an unprecedented increase in electricity demand, putting pressure on the climate goals set in previous years.
According to the document, electricity demand increased by 37% in 2025 compared to the previous year, representing the highest growth rate ever recorded by Google. When considering the period from 2019 to 2025, the overall electricity needs have grown by about 250%, a direct consequence of the expansion of data centers and infrastructure dedicated to artificial intelligence.
In the report, Google clearly identifies the expansion of its technical infrastructure as the primary element responsible for the evolution of its environmental impact. The company also emphasizes that the acceleration of energy demand represents a reality to actively manage, reiterating its intention not to use AI growth as a justification to lower environmental standards.
Alongside the increase in consumption, Google also highlights the progress made in energy sourcing. For the ninth consecutive year, the company states that it has compensated on an annual basis for 100% of its global electricity consumption, through renewable energy purchases. In 2025 alone, contracts for over 12 GW of new capacity from clean sources were also signed, a value roughly eight times higher than that recorded in 2019.
On the operational emissions front (Scope 2), Google reports a reduction of 2% compared to the previous year, a result achieved through the expansion of renewable sources and the use of granular energy certificates. However, the situation looks different when considering the entire supply chain: supply chain emissions have increased by 25%, mainly due to the production of new hardware intended for AI systems and the fact that a significant portion of manufacturing still relies on power grids that are heavily fueled by fossil fuels.
Overall, the company's greenhouse gas emissions increased by 18% in the past year, with Google attributing much of this growth precisely to the production of hardware needed to support the proliferation of AI.
The report also highlights progress made in terms of efficiency. Google states that the carbon intensity of computing has improved by 3.7 times in the last twelve months, while the energy and climate footprint of the median prompt processed by Gemini Apps has reportedly decreased by 44 times due to software evolution, the introduction of more efficient TPUs, and infrastructure optimization.
According to the company's estimates, an average text prompt on Gemini now requires energy consumption equivalent to about 9 seconds of television watching, generates 0.03 grams of CO₂ equivalent, and uses 0.26 milliliters of water, roughly equivalent to about five drops.
On the water resource management front, Google reports positive results as well. The program includes 165 projects across 97 watersheds, which have restored approximately 7.7 billion gallons of water, equivalent to 78% of the company's annual freshwater consumption.
Google also claims that its AI-based solutions have allowed customers, businesses, and public administrations to avoid a total of 41 million tons of CO₂ equivalent during 2025, a value that the company suggests is about three times greater than its direct operational emissions.
Despite these results, the report openly acknowledges that the net-zero goals by 2030 and the continuous use of clean energy 24 hours a day appear today more challenging to achieve. The company itself admits that the pace of building new infrastructure dedicated to artificial intelligence is growing faster than the speed at which global power grids are reducing their dependence on fossil fuels.