Google: From carbon neutrality to 100% renewable energy, and beyond

Google achieved its goal of matching 100% of its global electricity consumption with renewable energy in 2017, investing over $3.5 billion USD across 26 projects. The company now aims for a 'moonshot' goal of powering operations on a region-specific, 24/7 basis with zero-carbon energy. To achieve this, Google focuses on regional procurement to overcome regulatory barriers, the pursuit of new technologies to manage resource variability, and the promotion of energy policies that empower consumers. Additionally, Google launched the Environmental Insights Explorer in 2018 to help cities estimate carbon emissions and renewable energy potential.

• Google reached its target of purchasing enough renewable energy to match 100% of its global electricity consumption in 2017. To date, the company has invested more than $3.5 billion USD and signed contracts for over 3 GW of renewable energy across 26 projects.
• The company's current long-term objective is to power its operations on a region-specific, 24/7 basis using clean, zero-carbon energy, moving beyond annual global matching.
• Google employs a three-part strategy to meet its environmental goals: energy efficiency, renewable energy procurement, and carbon offsets. It has maintained carbon neutrality since 2007 and pioneered the use of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for corporate entities in 2010.
• To advance toward 24/7 clean energy, Google is shifting from 'overbuying' renewables in some markets to offset deficits in others toward unlocking access to renewables on the specific grids where it operates.
• In September 2018, Google introduced the Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE), a tool developed with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy to help cities estimate building and transportation carbon emissions and renewable energy potential.

APA

Hanna, M. (2018). Google: From carbon neutrality to 100% renewable energy, and beyond. We Mean Business Coalition. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/google-carbon-neutrality-100-renewable-energy-beyond/

Chicago

Hanna, Mars. Google: From carbon neutrality to 100% renewable energy, and beyond. We Mean Business Coalition, 2018. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/google-carbon-neutrality-100-renewable-energy-beyond/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hanna |first1=Mars |title=Google: From carbon neutrality to 100% renewable energy, and beyond |publisher=We Mean Business Coalition |date=25 September 2018 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/google-carbon-neutrality-100-renewable-energy-beyond/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hanna2018google, author = {Hanna, Mars}, title = {{Google: From carbon neutrality to 100\% renewable energy, and beyond}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2018}, month = sep, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/google-carbon-neutrality-100-renewable-energy-beyond/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }