Recently, an analysis by The Guardian revealed serious potential misrepresentations by tech companies in handling the environmental impact of their AI data centers. The emission data reported by tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Apple significantly deviates from the actual situation.
According to this analysis, these companies' actual emissions are 662% higher than their officially disclosed figures, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, as the study only covered data from 2020 to 2022.
Image source note: The image was generated by AI, provided by the image licensing service Midjourney
Among all tech companies, Amazon has the highest emissions, but due to a lack of specific data showing its data center emissions, it was not included in this analysis. However, the analysis points out that all five tech companies have been concealing their true environmental impact. Notably, these companies have claimed to be carbon neutral, but such claims now seem like a joke.
It is reported that tech companies use "market-based" emission data when reporting. Behind this method is the purchase of energy certificates (RECs) to reduce reported emissions. These certificates claim to offset the pollution energy consumed by the company, but the actual operation is done by a third party, with no verification process at all. In other words, it's like laundering the energy bill.
To more accurately reflect their environmental impact, "location-based emission" data should be used. This data directly shows the actual emissions of each data center.
It should be noted that different companies report data center emission data differently. According to the available location-based emission data, Meta emerged as the "least honest" company in this investigation. In 2022, Meta reported its data center emissions at only 273 metric tons of CO2, but using location-based data, this number skyrocketed to 3.8 million metric tons, an increase of 19,000 times.
Microsoft's situation is more typical. The company reported data center-related emissions of 280,782 metric tons in 2022, while the true location-based emissions reached 6.1 million metric tons.
Clearly, the demand for energy by AI technology will continue to rise. The report states: "If the total location-based emissions of these companies in 2022 were calculated as a country, it would rank as the 33rd largest emitter in the world, between the Philippines and Algeria."
Key points:
🌍 Actual emissions are 662% higher than reported by tech companies, highlighting the severity of their environmental impact.
📉 Companies using market-based data reduce reported emissions through the purchase of energy certificates, but their authenticity is questionable.
📊 Location-based data reveals a significant gap between Meta's emissions and official figures.
