MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA — Google released a blog post detailing five commitments for water usage at its data centers. The company aims to replenish more water than it consumes at these facilities by 2030.
The commitments include investments in local water infrastructure and the identification of alternative water sources for its facilities. The company will also report its annual water usage publicly. The company has allocated $17 million to support water stewardship projects across seven U.S. states.
Ben Townsend, the company's global head of infrastructure and sustainability, stated that communities can use the company's blueprint as a reference when other companies propose building data centers. Bikash Koley, Google vice president of global infrastructure, noted that water cooling can reduce data center energy use by approximately 10% compared to air cooling. Townsend indicated that the company is accounting for the offsite water footprint and has made progress in reducing or eliminating that supply chain's water footprint through waterless renewable energy investments.
A Gallup survey indicated that over 70% of Americans oppose data center construction in their local communities. Half of the survey respondents cited environmental resource impacts as a reason for their opposition. Eighteen percent of respondents specifically identified high water consumption as a concern regarding data centers.
A United Nations report projects that global data center electricity consumption will reach 945 terawatt-hours annually by 2030. The report also estimates that data center water consumption will meet the basic domestic needs of 1.3 billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
No independent assessment was available for this report.