In 2023, Google and Microsoft each consumed 24 TWh of electricity, surpassing the consumption of over 100 nations, including places like Iceland, Ghana, and Tunisia, according to an analysis by Michael Thomas. While massive energy usage means a substantial environmental impact for these tech giants, it should be noted that Google and Microsoft also generate more money than many countries. Furthermore, companies like Intel, Google, and Microsoft lead renewable energy adoption within the industry.
Detailed analysis reveals that Google's and Microsoft's electricity consumption — 24 TWh in 2023 — equals the power consumption of Azerbaijan (a nation of 10.14 million) and is higher than that of several other countries. For instance, Iceland, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and Tunisia each consumed 19 TWh, while Jordan consumed 20 TWh. Of course, some countries consume more power than Google and Microsoft. For example, Slovakia, a country with 5.4 million inhabitants, consumes 26 TWh.
This comparison highlights the massive energy requirements of high-tech companies: data centers operated by Google and Microsoft have a considerable environmental impact. But what if we compare the power consumption and money generation of Google and Microsoft to some of the countries mentioned?
In 2023, Google generated $305.6 billion in revenue, while its economic impact, including tools like Google Search, Google Cloud, and YouTube, contributed approximately $739 billion to the economy, according to Google itself.
Microsoft posted a revenue of $211.9 billion for 2023. Keeping in mind that the vast majority of the world's population uses Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office and loads of online applications run on Microsoft Azure, the economic impact of Microsoft's products is probably counted in trillions of dollars.
Comparing this to countries with the same ballpark energy consumption, Azerbaijan's GDP was about $78 billion, Slovakia's GDP was around $127 billion, and Iceland's GDP was approximately $30 billion in 2023.
The economic output of Google and Microsoft by far exceeds these countries' GDPs, highlighting the vast financial scale of these tech giants relative to their substantial electricity consumption.
While substantial electricity consumption by Google and Microsoft underscores the need for discussions around sustainability and the adoption of renewable energy within the tech industry, these companies lead the industry's adoption of renewable energy sources.
In fact, Google has long been a pioneer in using renewable energy. The company has been carbon neutral since 2007, and aims to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy across all its data centers by 2030. In 2023, Google announced its continued investments in renewable energy projects, expanding its portfolio to include a variety of wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources.
As for Microsoft, it has committed to becoming carbon-negative by 2030, which means it aims to remove more carbon from the environment than it emits. The company is also targeting zero waste production and positive water usage by the same year. In 2023, Microsoft increased its contracted portfolio of renewable energy assets to over 19.8 gigawatts, covering projects in 21 countries. The company is also working on reducing its direct operational emissions and addressing its indirect emissions, particularly those associated with the construction of new data centers and hardware components.
