Google and Microsoft consume more energy than many countries, but also earn more

Google and Microsoft each consumed 24 TWh of electricity globally last year, more than the consumption of more than 100 individual countries such as Iceland, Ghana and Tunisia over the same period. Huge energy consumption means a significant environmental impact, but it is noted that Google and Microsoft generate huge revenues, larger than the economies of many countries, and also promote renewable energy.

Image source: Google

Data presented from a study by Michael Thomas indicate that Google and Microsoft are on par with Azerbaijan, a country with a population of more than 10 million people, in terms of energy consumption. At the same time, the technology giants are ahead of a large number of countries in consumption, such as Iceland, Ghana, the Dominican Republic and Tunisia (all of which consumed 19 TWh in 2023), as well as Jordan (20 TWh). At the same time, Slovakia, with a population of 5.4 million, consumed 26 TWh last year.

The comparison highlights the enormous energy needs of high-tech companies, as well as the significant environmental impact of data centers run by Google and Microsoft. At the same time, tech giants generate significantly more cash compared to many countries whose energy consumption levels are close to those of Google and Microsoft.

According to Google, the company’s revenue in 2023 amounted to $305.6 billion, and the contribution of its services, such as the Google search engine, Google Cloud and YouTube, to the country’s economy amounted to about $739 billion. Microsoft reported revenue of $211.9 at the end of 2023 billion. Given that the majority of the world’s population uses Windows and Microsoft Office, and many online applications run on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, the company’s contribution to the economy is likely to be in the trillions of dollars.

Image source: Michael Thomas/X

Comparing these indicators with the level of GDP of countries with similar amounts of energy consumption, one can see a significant difference. In 2023, Azerbaijan’s GDP was about $78 billion, Slovakia’s GDP was about $127 billion, Iceland’s GDP was $30 billion. The economic output of Google and Microsoft significantly exceeds the GDP of the countries mentioned, which emphasizes the enormous financial scale of the tech giants compared to the level of their energy consumption.

While the scale of energy consumed by Google and Microsoft highlights the need for sustainability and renewable energy discussions in the tech industry, these companies are among the leaders in renewable energy adoption. This is how Google became a carbon-neutral company in 2007. The company plans to switch to fully powering its data center network from carbon-free sources by 2030. Last year, Google also announced continued investment in renewable energy projects.

As for Microsoft, the company is committed to becoming carbon negative by 2030. This means the software giant intends to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it produces. During the same period, the company plans to reduce waste emissions and begin to use water resources more efficiently. Last year, Microsoft grew its contract portfolio of renewable energy assets to more than 19.8 gigawatts, covering projects in 21 countries.