Google plans to buy enough renewable energy next year to match the entire needs of all its data centres and offices around the world, in one of the biggest gestures by a private company to combat climate change. The internet company said the commitment would confirm it as “the largest corporate renewable energy buyer on the planet” and mark a breakthrough in the mainstream use of solar and wind power — though limitations on delivering the electricity to where it is needed mean the company still will not be able to run all its facilities directly off renewable power.
Google’s promise is the most dramatic yet from a tech company, as the industry races to mitigate the impact of its power-hungry data centres. The company’s own power use has soared in recent years: it said it now has 2,600 megawatts of renewable electricity generating capacity under contract, 10 times the amount of power it said it needed in 2010 to power its data centres, its biggest consumer of electricity. In 2015, the company used 5.6 terawatt hours of energy — enough, by its own calculations, to power the entire city of San Francisco for the year.