Google commits to replenishing more water than data centres use by 2030

Google has shared its plan to minimize the environmental impacts of AI data centers by increasing water availability for local communities.

In a blog post published Wednesday, the tech giant laid out five commitments related to water use, including a goal to replenish more water than it uses at its data centers by 2030.

The other commitments include:

• Help modernize water and wastewater infrastructure for our neighbours.
• Protect at-risk watersheds with air-cooled solutions.
• Report our annual use transparently.
• Pursue alternative and reclaimed solutions to protect water resources.

The tech giant also announced US$17 million (approx. C$23.6 million) in support of new projects that advance the company’s water stewardship ambitions in seven U.S. states.

These new commitments come amid growing opposition to the construction of these data centres and to their massive energy requirements. Interestingly, a poll from Angus Reid shows that 68 per cent of Canadians would oppose the construction of a large AI data centre being built a few blocks away from where they live. In a separate question, 67 per cent of respondents also viewed AI data centres as a bad thing for the environment.

As The Verge pointed out, AI data centres require large amounts of water for cooling (alongside other environmental concerns), with a recent study noting that the technology uses as much water annually as people drink from water bottles worldwide. Ironically, Experts told The Verge that Google’s previous estimates have been misleading, citing that the company omits indirect water usage.

However, Google’s vice president of global infrastructure, Bikash Koley, said in the blog post that water usage at data centres can actually lower overall energy use. “In many places, water cooling can reduce data center energy use by approximately 10% compared to air cooling,” Koley writes. “The aggregate water consumption of data centers is small — US data centers use less than 1% of the water that Americans use on their lawns annually — but we are focused on protecting local water resources in all aspects of our data center operations.”

Header image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The Verge