The Internet has opened a new world for many people around the world. Especially in between a pandemic, when everything- ranging from studies to shopping is being done online. We cannot imagine how much we rely on the internet.
Since it gives so many benefits, it is pretty evident, we get them at the cost of energy. And that energy comes from carbon-based sources which has a great impact on climate. Thus huge companies like Facebook and Google, taking inspiration from Apple and Microsoft had announced their plans of becoming carbon neutral businesses by refraining to put no excess carbon in the atmosphere which deteriorates it. It’s a healthy step with regard to the amount of pollution already there in the atmosphere due to industries and vehicles.
“The science is clear: The world must act now if we are going to avert the worst consequences of climate change,” Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and alphabet said in a blog post.
Google first committed to becoming carbon neutral in 2007 and the tech giant has also announced it’s a new target that by 2030, it will run on renewable energy. Thus the company announced that it would become the first to run completely on carbon-free energy sources in all it’s data centers.
It is really challenging than the traditional approach of using renewable energy but they are working to get this done by 2030.
Moreover, these commitments will directly create 20000 more jobs at present, thus increasing the employment rate. By becoming carbon-free since 2007, Google has attained a net lifetime zero carbon footprint by compensating for the carbon it used before 2007.
Google’s pledge to be using only carbon-free energy by 2030 was it’s “biggest sustainability moonshot yet”.
The company would be pairing wind and solar power sources together, and increase the battery storage and work towards the optimization of electricity demand and forecasting. Since the cities create 70% of the world’s carbon emissions, Google is expanding its tools to invest in the latest technologies and infrastructure to 3000 cities worldwide today.
Meanwhile, Facebook also announced separately that it would become 100% supported by renewable energy this year. It also announced a new Climate Science Information Center so that people with science-based information with regard to the development of new technologies can come together and work on this. The Center will feature facts figures and facts using information from various organisations- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), UN Environment Programme, The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA), and World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
All these announcements were welcomed by climate activists.
According to Tim Cook, Apple CEO, Businesses should realize the importance of a sustainable future and take it as an essential duty to increase economic growth as well. Thus we can be a ripple in the pond and still contribute to a much larger change.