Google has announced that its operations will be fully powered by renewable energy in 2017, a goal it has been pursuing in the past ten years of carbon neutral status.
Erasing its carbon footprint, the all-encompassing move will include all Google offices and data centres, making the company truly 100 per cent renewable energy driven.
The company has said that the accomplishment of operation without fossil fuels and natural resources is critical in its long term mission.
All that Google is now waiting for is the expiry of past signed contracts relating to non-renewable energy; at this point the achievement will be official.
Chris Talbott, Google Cloud and Kate Brandt, Sustainability Lead, said: Operating Google in an environmentally sustainable way has been a core value from day one. Each year we release our environmental report to share updates on our progress towards a more sustainable future.
The environmental mission of the company is not yet complete, as Google has outlined another goal to slash the landfill waste generated by its data centres. So far six facilitates have achieved the desired standard.
“In 2017, we’ll reach our goal of 100 percent renewable energy for all of our operations. This includes our data centers, which support our millions of customers on Google Cloud… As more and more companies transform their businesses digitally, or build new ones, renewable energy is increasingly critical. As businesses, we affect the environment in ways often not clearly visible,” Talbott said.
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Google is not alone in its efforts to make its processes more environmentally friendly. Earlier this year, Facebook announced the opening of a new $1 billion data centre set to be entirely run on renewable energy.
This Facebook facility in Fort Worth, Texas, involves in excess of 200MW of wind generated power, a supply that the company worked on with Citigroup Energy, Alterra Power Corporation, and Starwood Energy Group.
