Tag Archives: Sustainability

Saving water in L.A., one leaky toilet at a time

In water-scarce regions like California, every last drop counts. Yet millions of gallons of water are lost every year to a common, yet easily preventable, cause of water waste: leaky toilets.

That's why we recently co-funded a pilot project to install water-saving technology in three multi-family buildings in Los Angeles. The tech takes aim at common leaks, like toilets that keep running water when not in use, which can add up over time. The pilot is on track to save 6.4 million gallons of water a year in the L.A. watershed where we operate, supporting our commitment to replenish 120% of the water we consume, on average, across our offices and data centers by 2030.

The pilot came together with partners from the California Water Action Collaborative (CWAC), a water stewardship network of over 25 organizations — including private companies like Google alongside environmental NGOs and nonprofits — that are committed to improving water security across the state.

Here's a look at how this project is saving water, money and energy, and at the potential for collective action models to make meaningful progress on rising water challenges.

Saving water, money and energy

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power estimates that the average household loses up to 10,000 gallons of water every year to leaky toilets that go unnoticed. The good news is that while leaky toilets can be hard to detect, they’re easy to fix.

For the pilot project, CWAC members Pacific Institute and Bonneville Environmental Foundation tackled this challenge in three low-income multi-family housing buildings operated by nonprofit organizations, working alongside the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other local water utilities. Toilets in these buildings were equipped with small, low-cost, low-power sensors developed by Sensor Industries. When a toilet leaks, the sensors alert building management in real time that a toilet needs to be repaired. The fix is usually as simple as readjusting or replacing the toilet flapper.

This simple intervention resulted in serious savings of water, money and energy, according to estimates from the nonprofit Pacific Institute:

  • Water: The pilots are reducing building water use by an estimated 15% to 25%. The expected savings of 6.4 million gallons of water per year is equivalent to the total annual water use of about 40 single-family homes. Those savings extend to other customers who get their water from the same public utility, reducing water demand — and improving water reliability and affordability — across the system.
  • Cost: The water savings translate into cost savings on water and wastewater bills of the same 15% to 25%, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars a year. The nonprofit building operators who pay the water bills could use these savings to make building improvements, in effect passing the savings along to residents.
  • Energy: Southern California imports much of its water from hundreds of miles away, and it takes a lot of energy to pump this water over the mountains surrounding the L.A. Basin and treat it for household use. By reducing the demand for that water, the project cuts back on the energy and associated greenhouse gas emissions embedded in the water system.

Pacific Institute points to several other advantages of this approach. Residents don’t have to do anything — the non-invasive system detects problems and notifies the building. Facility managers can see the likely reason for the leak (such as a stuck flapper), which helps them fix it faster. The nonprofit building operators can focus on more urgent issues and reduce time spent tracking down leaks.

Bringing the solution to more cities

Taking this pilot to other places has always been a goal, and that expansion effort is now underway. We’re funding work to bring this solution to a 225-unit building in San Francisco that shares a watershed with our local offices. Here we expect to save a little over 1 million gallons of water a year, based on the savings found in L.A.

In New York City, we’re exploring this approach in a building a few miles from our main local campus, and here too we expect to save roughly 1 million gallons of water a year. While this region is not currently in a drought, we expect the system to save significant amounts of energy, as New York City imports its water from far away. Additionally, this project can help reduce pressure on New York’s combined waste- and stormwater system, which can overflow into clean waterways during heavy storms.

In the face of difficult decisions around water resources and scarcity, it’s not easy to find meaningful wins that everyone can get behind. The pilots represent a solution that local utilities anywhere can adopt with the right partners.

Looking ahead, we’ll continue to support collective action around watershed health in the communities where we operate. A healthy, resilient water system takes all of us.

Related Article

Our commitment to water stewardship

We’re committing to replenish 120% of the water we consume, on average, by 2030 and supporting water security in areas where we operate.

Read Article

Saving water in L.A., one leaky toilet at a time

In water-scarce regions like California, every last drop counts. Yet millions of gallons of water are lost every year to a common, yet easily preventable, cause of water waste: leaky toilets.

That's why we recently co-funded a pilot project to install water-saving technology in three multi-family buildings in Los Angeles. The tech takes aim at common leaks, like toilets that keep running water when not in use, which can add up over time. The pilot is on track to save 6.4 million gallons of water a year in the L.A. watershed where we operate, supporting our commitment to replenish 120% of the water we consume, on average, across our offices and data centers by 2030.

The pilot came together with partners from the California Water Action Collaborative (CWAC), a water stewardship network of over 25 organizations — including private companies like Google alongside environmental NGOs and nonprofits — that are committed to improving water security across the state.

Here's a look at how this project is saving water, money and energy, and at the potential for collective action models to make meaningful progress on rising water challenges.

Saving water, money and energy

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power estimates that the average household loses up to 10,000 gallons of water every year to leaky toilets that go unnoticed. The good news is that while leaky toilets can be hard to detect, they’re easy to fix.

For the pilot project, CWAC members Pacific Institute and Bonneville Environmental Foundation tackled this challenge in three low-income multi-family housing buildings operated by nonprofit organizations, working alongside the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other local water utilities. Toilets in these buildings were equipped with small, low-cost, low-power sensors developed by Sensor Industries. When a toilet leaks, the sensors alert building management in real time that a toilet needs to be repaired. The fix is usually as simple as readjusting or replacing the toilet flapper.

This simple intervention resulted in serious savings of water, money and energy, according to estimates from the nonprofit Pacific Institute:

  • Water: The pilots are reducing building water use by an estimated 15% to 25%. The expected savings of 6.4 million gallons of water per year is equivalent to the total annual water use of about 40 single-family homes. Those savings extend to other customers who get their water from the same public utility, reducing water demand — and improving water reliability and affordability — across the system.
  • Cost: The water savings translate into cost savings on water and wastewater bills of the same 15% to 25%, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars a year. The nonprofit building operators who pay the water bills could use these savings to make building improvements, in effect passing the savings along to residents.
  • Energy: Southern California imports much of its water from hundreds of miles away, and it takes a lot of energy to pump this water over the mountains surrounding the L.A. Basin and treat it for household use. By reducing the demand for that water, the project cuts back on the energy and associated greenhouse gas emissions embedded in the water system.

Pacific Institute points to several other advantages of this approach. Residents don’t have to do anything — the non-invasive system detects problems and notifies the building. Facility managers can see the likely reason for the leak (such as a stuck flapper), which helps them fix it faster. The nonprofit building operators can focus on more urgent issues and reduce time spent tracking down leaks.

Bringing the solution to more cities

Taking this pilot to other places has always been a goal, and that expansion effort is now underway. We’re funding work to bring this solution to a 225-unit building in San Francisco that shares a watershed with our local offices. Here we expect to save a little over 1 million gallons of water a year, based on the savings found in L.A.

In New York City, we’re exploring this approach in a building a few miles from our main local campus, and here too we expect to save roughly 1 million gallons of water a year. While this region is not currently in a drought, we expect the system to save significant amounts of energy, as New York City imports its water from far away. Additionally, this project can help reduce pressure on New York’s combined waste- and stormwater system, which can overflow into clean waterways during heavy storms.

In the face of difficult decisions around water resources and scarcity, it’s not easy to find meaningful wins that everyone can get behind. The pilots represent a solution that local utilities anywhere can adopt with the right partners.

Looking ahead, we’ll continue to support collective action around watershed health in the communities where we operate. A healthy, resilient water system takes all of us.

Related Article

Our commitment to water stewardship

We’re committing to replenish 120% of the water we consume, on average, by 2030 and supporting water security in areas where we operate.

Read Article

How we’re using AI to help address the climate crisis


Communities around the world are facing the effects of climate change — from devastating floods and wildfires to challenges around food security. As global leaders meet in Egypt for COP27, a key area of focus will be on how we can work together to address to climate change crisis and implement sustainable solutions. At Google, we’re investing in technologies that can help communities prepare for and respond to climate-related disasters and threats.

Tools to alert people and governments about immediate risks

Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. As part of our Crisis Response efforts, we're working to bring trusted information to people in critical moments to keep them safe and informed. To do so, we rely on the research and development of our AI-powered technologies and longstanding partnerships with frontline emergency workers and organizations. Here’s a look at some of our crisis response efforts and new ways we’re expanding these tools.

  • Floods: Catastrophic damage from flooding affects more than 250 million people every year. In 2018, we launched our flood forecasting initiative that uses machine learning models to provide people with detailed alerts. In 2021, we sent 115 million flood alert notifications to 23 million people over Search and Maps, helping save countless lives. Today, we’re expanding our flood forecasts to river basins in 18 additional countries across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. We’re also announcing the global launch of the new FloodHub, a platform that displays flood forecasts and shows when and where floods may occur to help people directly at risk and provide critical information to aid organizations and governments. This expansion in geographic coverage is possible thanks to our recent breakthroughs in AI-based flood forecasting models, and we’re committed to expanding to more countries.
An image of a FloodHub map showing areas where riverine floods my occur

The new Google FloodHub at g.co/floodhub shows forecasts for riverine floods. Forecasts are now available in 18 additional countries: Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Angola, South Sudan, Namibia, Liberia, South Africa.

  • Wildfires: Wildfires affect hundreds of thousands of people each year, and are increasing in frequency and size. I experienced firsthand the need for accurate information when wildfires occur and this inspired our crisis response work. We detect wildfire boundaries using new AI models based on satellite imagery and show their real-time location in Search and Maps. Since July, we’ve covered more than 30 big wildfire events in the U.S. and Canada, helping inform people and firefighting teams with over 7 million views in Search and Maps. Today, wildfire detection is now available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and parts of Australia.
Picture shows the location of the Pukatawagan fire in Manitoba, Canada.

The location of the Pukatawagan fire in Manitoba, Canada.

  • Hurricanes: Access to authoritative forecasts and safety information about hurricanes can be life-saving. In the days before a hurricane in North America or a typhoon in Japan, detailed forecasts from authoritative sources appear on SOS Alerts in Search and Maps to show a storm’s predicted trajectory. We're also using machine learning to analyze satellite imagery after disasters and identify which areas need help. When Hurricane Ian hit Florida in September, this technology was deployed in partnership with Google.org grantee GiveDirectly to quickly allocate aid to those most affected.

Managing current and future climate impacts

Climate change poses a threat to our world's natural resources and food security. We’re working with governments, organizations and communities to provide information and technologies to help adapt to these changes.

  • Keeping cities greener and healthier: Extreme temperatures and poor air quality are increasingly common in cities and can impact public health. To mitigate this, our Project Green Light uses AI to optimize traffic lights at intersections around the world with the aim to help minimize congestion and related pollution. Project Air View also brings detailed air quality maps to scientists, policymakers and communities. And we’re working to expand our Environmental Insights Explorer’s Tree Canopy Insights tool to hundreds of cities by the end of this year so they can use trees to lower street-level temperatures and improve quality of life.
  • Meeting the world’s growing demand for food: Mineral — a project from X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory — is working to build a more sustainable and productive food system. The team is joining diverse data sets in radically new ways — from soil and weather data to drone and satellite images — and using AI to reveal insights never before possible about what’s happening with crops. As part of our Startups For Sustainable Development program, we’re also supporting startups addressing food security. These include startups like OKO, which provides crop insurance to keep farmers in business in case of adverse weather events and has reached tens of thousands of farmers in Mali and Uganda.
  • Helping farmers protect their crops: Pest infestations can threaten entire crops and impact the livelihoods of millions. In collaboration with InstaDeep and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, our team at the Google AI Center in Ghana is using AI to better detect locust outbreaks so that it's possible to implement control measures. In India, Google.org Fellows worked with Wadhwani AI to create an AI-powered app that helps identify and treat infestations of pests, resulting in a 20% reduction in pesticide sprays and a 26% increase in profit margins for farmers. Google Cloud is also working with agricultural technology companies to use machine learning and cloud services to improve crop yields.
  • Analyzing a changing planet: Using Google Cloud and Google Earth Engine, organizations and businesses can better assess and manage climate risks. For example, the U.S. Forest Service uses these tools to analyze land-cover changes to better respond to new wildfire threats and monitor the impacts of invasive insects, diseases and droughts. Similarly, the Bank of Montreal is integrating climate data — like precipitation trends — into its business strategy and risk management for clients.

AI already plays a critical role in addressing many urgent, climate-related challenges. It is important that we continue to invest in research and raise awareness about why we are doing this work. Google Arts and Culture has collaborated with artists on the Culture meets Climate collection so everyone can explore more perspectives on climate change. And at COP27 we hope to generate more awareness and engage in productive discussions about how to use AI, innovations, and shared data to help global communities address the changing climate.

Related Article

Accelerating climate action at Google and beyond

A new paper we published today shares updates on the work we have been doing as part of our third decade of climate action.

Read Article

Accelerating climate action at Google and beyond

Next week at COP27, global leaders will gather in Egypt to build momentum for climate action. Climate change is one of humanity’s most urgent challenges, and this decade is critical in setting the world on a path to a sustainable future. Google is committed to reducing our own emissions and using technology to help everyone make sustainable choices.

Today, we’re releasing a paper that shares updates on the work we have been doing as part of our third decade of climate action. Here’s a look at our progress and ambitions.

Built to be sustainable

Sustainability has always been a core value for Google, and we know taking action starts with operating our business more sustainably.

Last year we announced our goal of achieving net-zero emissions across our operations and value chain — including our consumer hardware products — by 2030. We aim to reduce 50% of our combined scope 1[dd5395], scope 2[c32b8a], and scope 3[19a617]absolute emissions (versus our 2019 baseline) before 2030, and plan to invest in nature-based and technology-based carbon removal solutions to neutralize our remaining emissions. There are three ways we are working towards this goal: advancing carbon-free energy (CFE), reducing emissions within our value chain, and addressing our residual emissions with carbon removal and other solutions.

Our net zero goal builds on two decades of climate action at Google. We started purchasing renewable energy in 2010, and in 2017 we became the first major company to match 100% of our annual electricity use with renewable energy purchases. We have continued to do so for five consecutive years, and in 2020 we set the even more ambitious goal of operating our data centers and office campuses on 24/7 CFE by 2030.

Accelerate action through partners

While we’re committed to reaching our goals, our impact is far greater when we work together. That’s why we collaborate with thousands of partners across multiple industries — from cities and governments to companies and nonprofits — to advance sustainability and climate progress.

Over half of the global population lives in cities, and urban areas account for over two-thirds of global energy consumption and more than 70% of global carbon emissions. To help reduce these emissions, we aim to help more than 500 cities and local governments reduce an aggregate of 1 gigaton of carbon emissions annually by 2030. We are working to achieve this through tools like our Environmental Insights Explorer, which empowers cities and regions with actionable data and insights to reduce global emissions, and Project Green Light, an AI tool that provides recommendations for city planners to optimize traffic light timing to reduce stop-and-go traffic.

Likewise, many of the world’s biggest brands are working to operate more sustainably. Through Google Cloud, we’re helping customers minimize environmental impact. This summer we announced Google Cloud Ready - Sustainability designation to showcase partners that are committed to helping organizations accelerate their sustainability programs.

We are also building tools to strengthen communities’ response to extreme weather events. For example, our forecasting initiative provides flood alerts and information to at-risk communities. During Pakistan’s severe flooding this year, we provided nationwide SOS alerts with links to the latest information from government authorities.

Empowering everyone to make more sustainable choices

The billions of people who use our products and services are looking for ways to live more sustainably, and we want to make it easier for them to do so. In 2022, Google searches reached all-time highs for terms including “rooftop solar power,” “solar energy,” “electric bicycles,” and “electric cars.”

Last year, we rolled out eco-friendly routing on Google Maps in the U.S. and Canada, and this year it expanded to 40 countries across Europe. This tool gets people to their destinations as quickly as possible while minimizing fuel consumption. Already it has helped avoid an estimate of more than half a million metric tons of carbon emissions — that’s equivalent to taking approximately 100,000 fuel-based cars off the road[31542c].

Beyond getting from place to place, we’re making it easier for people to build a clean energy future from their homes. As of this month, anyone in the continental U.S. can join Nest Renew, which automatically shifts their energy consumption to the times of day when local grid electricity is cleaner or less expensive.

As we work to provide products and services that help people make sustainable choices and reduce their carbon footprints, we’ll continue improving our ability to measure the individual and collective impact of these decisions. This is important not only for Google, but also for the growing number of companies offering solutions to help their customers reduce emissions.

A more sustainable future, for all

This year, we’ve seen major steps forward on climate policy in the U.S., Europe, and other regions. We are excited about the potential of new policy measures and corporate commitments that will help us reach historic emissions reductions in the next decade. The conversations at COP27 will be a critical moment to continue building momentum and move from pledges to progress.

Our aim is to make every day more sustainable through our operations, partnerships and products. We’re energized by the progress we’ve made so far, and more motivated than ever to do our part to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future for all.

Helping to create a more resilient Europe

Helping to create a more resilient Europe

When Ukraine was invaded in February, a group of 15 Google employees dropped everything to do what they did best — write code. But unlike their day jobs of helping to build Google Maps or improve Google Search, this team of Google.org Fellows assisted the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to build out ‘matching over 10,000 refugees to temporary accommodations. Ensuring that they’re prepared for the next crisis, the IRC team, with support from Google.org Fellows, also worked to shorten the time required to launch future versions of the site, meaning people impacted by a crisis can get potentially lifesaving information much faster.

This is the kind of transformational innovation that a team of Google engineers working alongside issue area experts at nonprofits can achieve. We’ve seen how this combination of funding and the right technical expertise can support organisations using tech solutions to combat some of Europe’s biggest challenges, such as developing afree carbon emissions calculator for businesses of all sizes, building a new digital platform for jobseekers, and incorporating machine learning to automaticallyflag false claims online.

This is what has inspired us to launch a new €15M Google.org Impact Challenge: Tech for Social Good. European nonprofits, civic entities, academic and research institutions, and social enterprises can, for the first time, apply to receive pro bono technical help from a team of Google.org Fellows for up to six months, helping them transform their organisation’s work.

For this new Impact Challenge, we’re particularly interested in seeing submissions from organisations focused on sustainability, economic opportunity, and cyber security — projects that will help to combat the threats of climate change, economic challenges, and the spread of online disinformation across Europe.

A video with text saying The Google.org Impact Challenge: Tech For Social Good
10:25

When asked to reflect on the International Rescue Committee experience working with Google.org Fellows, IRC CEO David Miliband said: “With help from Google.org Fellows, we were able to rapidly broaden the reach of a digital platform for Ukrainian refugees, at a time when there was no time to spare. In just 3 months they helped us achieve half of our entire roadmap for the next 5 years.”

We’re now asking your organisation for the most ambitious and impactful technical project that you’ve never had the time nor the resources to pursue, and to imagine what would be possible if you had a team of Google.org Fellows working pro bono for six months full-time, as well as up to €3M in funding to make your project a reality.

Learn more about the selection criteria and process here. We look forward to seeing organisations apply with their bold ideas for a more prosperous, green, and secure Europe.

How we’re restoring native habitats in Silicon Valley

Vast oak woodlands punctuated with lush willow groves once stretched from Palo Alto to San Jose and beyond, long before the rise of Silicon Valley.

“Centuries of agricultural intensification and urbanization have transformed these landscapes,” says Erin Beller, Google’s ecology program lead who studied Silicon Valley’s ecological history and restoration potential for her PhD. “We’ve lost over 99% of these valuable native habitats.”

Now, Google’s real estate and ecology teams are working to bring nature back into the built environment — in part, by restoring critical habitats like oak woodlands and willow groves across our Bay Area campuses. The goal is to revive the area’s ecological heritage and bolster the human experience while creating thriving, functional landscapes for a biodiverse constellation of species.

Already, the team has restored over 15 acres on Google’s campuses and in the surrounding urban landscape, in partnership with local NGOs, ecology experts and government agencies. This work includes everything from creating welcoming habitat patches for pollinators like native bees and monarch butterflies to partnering on larger projects like restoring the Charleston Retention Basin.

  • An orange and black monarch butterfly rests on milkweed.

    A monarch butterfly on narrow-leaf milkweed on Google’s Sunnyvale campus. We’ve committed $1 million to help California’s monarch butterfly conservation efforts, adding more habitat on our campuses and supporting the creation of 600 acres of habitat across the state.

  • A white great egret bird stands in its nest at the Shorebird Way rookery.

    A great egret standing in its nest at the Shorebird Way rookery, the largest in the South Bay area. Google protects the rookery by closing the road to vehicles during nesting season each year. Hundreds of snowy egrets, great egrets and black-crowned night herons return annually to nest and raise their young.

  • Two people wearing backpacks and baseball caps walk along a path between native plants.

    Two members of the ecology team walk along a path between native plants in the South Bay campus. Google’s real estate and ecology teams are working to bring nature back into the built environment.

Together these efforts drive landscape-scale restoration of historical ecosystems like oak woodlands, willow groves, meadows and grasslands, and creek and wetland habitats. Oaks and willows are especially important to Beller’s team because they play a defining role in sustaining ecosystems. Both support a dizzying array of wildlife and have great potential to adapt to California’s changing climate. “Oaks and willows have superpowers,” says Beller.

Oak canopies: host to a community of creatures

Iconic trees of the California landscape, oaks once dominated Silicon Valley. Oaks are drought-tolerant, fire-resistant, and efficient at removing air pollution and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.

Oak woodland ecosystems sustain some of the highest plant and animal diversity in California, supporting 2,000 additional plant species and around 5,000 insect species. Hundreds more birds, mammals and other wildlife rely on the richness of oak woodlands for food, shade and shelter.

  • A brown juvenile bushtit bird rests on a tree branch.

    A juvenile bushtit pictured at the Charleston Retention Basin. Insectivorous birds, like the bushtit and oak titmouse, feed on insects they find in oaks. These smaller birds are prey for predators like raptors and northern pygmy owls.

  • A Western bluebird looks left while sitting in front of oak tree leaves.

    A Western bluebird perched beside an oak tree at Google’s Bay View campus.

  • A round yellow wasp gall grows on the branches of an oak tree.

    A cynipid wasp gall on an oak by the Charleston Retention Basin. More than 130 species of cynipid wasps depend on Silicon Valley’s oaks to build their galls. Galls are an overgrowth of plant tissue produced in response to chemicals secreted by wasp larvae. Most wasp galls cause little or no lasting damage to oaks, and the insects that cause them help form complex food webs that are partially responsible for the amazing biodiversity found in oak habitats.

  • Three ecology team members in neon orange vests study trees in front of a building.

    Young oaks and native understory planting at Charleston East. In the next decade, Google estimates that the diverse network of oak species at Charleston East will provide 80,000 square feet of connected tree canopy.

  • A gray squirrel sits at the base of an oak tree, looking right.

    Oak leaves and acorns are consumed by herbivores like red and eastern gray squirrels (pictured) and birds like the California scrub jay, which consumes and disperses acorns, helping the trees to propagate.

Oaks can bring powerful benefits to urban areas, like creating wildlife corridors and mitigating the urban heat island effect. Already, Google has planted hundreds of oak trees across our Mountain View and Sunnyvale campuses, with plans to plant hundreds more. These efforts follow guidelines for tree density and spacing laid out in "Re-Oaking Silicon Valley," a study Beller co-authored with her extended team that also serves as a resource for other businesses and organizations.

Wetland willows: a stop for migratory birds

Whereas oaks thrive on well-drained valley soils, willows flourish in low-lying areas where groundwater is close to the surface. Because willows tap this groundwater, they stay lush and green well into the dry season, reducing the need for irrigation.

Like oaks, willows sequester carbon once mature. They’re also critical for insect biodiversity and can provide high-quality food for insectivorous birds and other wildlife. Silicon Valley has lost nearly all of its willow groves, which once served as essential stopovers for migratory birds heading south.

  • A water basin reflects the sun in front of two low round buildings at the Bay View campus.

    The Google Bay View campus incorporates stormwater retention basins designed to support willows, so the trees can provide habitat for migratory bird species and longer-term residents like pollinators, lizards, songbirds and other small animals. (Iwan Baan for Google)

  • A willow flycatcher bird rests on a tree branch, looking right.

    Songbirds like willow flycatchers (pictured) and Wilson’s warblers rest and refuel among the valley’s willows. They spend several days gorging on huge quantities of insects before continuing on their long journey to Central America.

  • Two field researchers write in notebooks while sitting in a fenced-in area surrounded by greenery and trees.

    Google’s field researchers in the shade of a willow grove at the Charleston Retention Basin, a partnership between Google, the City of Mountain View, HCP Life Science and LinkedIn. Google removed more than 100 parking spaces to help create more extensive willow floodplains, cottonwood groves and other habitats here.

Thanks to Google’s willow grove restoration initiatives like those around the Charleston Retention Basin and on our Bayview and Charleston East campuses, there are more places for migratory songbirds to rest and find food to replenish their energy en route.

At the Charleston Retention Basin — home to one of the largest willow groves in the region — there are new trails, seats and lookout points so people can immerse themselves in the outdoors and appreciate the biodiversity around them.

Bringing nature back beyond the Bay

In addition to projects in the Bay Area, Google’s ecology team has urban greening projects in the works across several of our campuses, including in the heart of London, Munich and New York.

“Nature and people should be able to flourish together in the campuses and communities that Google calls home,” says Beller.

This work is part of a bigger global movement. The idea that nature in cities is crucial for both people and wildlife is taking root, and high-profile projects like London’s National Park City to The High Line of New York have brought it into the public consciousness.

“We know that access to nature has profound benefits for human health and wellbeing,” says Kate Turpin, director of design performance for Google’s real estate development team. “It can be a place of refuge, from a hot day or the busy pace of working life.”

A researcher wearing a blue shirt and green baseball cap holds a wooden measuring stick next to milkweed plants.

A field researcher measures the height of native narrow-leaf milkweed on the Google campus, as part of biodiversity monitoring efforts.

To help scale their ideas, Beller’s team supports open-source scientific research, from local guidelines for native planting in Silicon Valley for institutions and residents to academic research about the value of urban nature. “From backyards to businesses, we hope everyone will pitch in to bring nature back into cities,” says Beller. They have also partnered with local scientists to monitor these new habitats on campus, using data to measure the impact of native landscaping on bird and insect biodiversity and inform future campus restoration efforts.

The early signs in the Bay Area are promising. “I can step out of the office and lose myself among the willow groves around the Charleston Retention Basin — enjoy a walk in the shade, spot birds and butterflies, and hear the hum of a functioning ecosystem all around me,” says Beller. “I’ve spent a large part of my career as an ecologist reflecting on what was. It’s awe-inspiring to think about what could be.”

Read Article

Doing our part for California’s monarch butterflies

We’re taking steps to help address the threat facing California’s monarch butterflies by providing grants and habitat on our campuses.

Read Article

Climate action in Europe: Moving from pledges to progress

It’s a challenging time for Europe. People, businesses, and governments across the continent are concerned about rising prices and increased pressure on the energy grid because of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The concern people are feeling is evident in the information they’re searching for. The search term “climate anxiety” reached an all-time high in July 2022, and top trending searches, such as “save natural gas,” “saving heating costs,” and “save energy,” show us that people want — and need — answers.

For more than 20 years, Google has been investing in making our operations and communities more sustainable. Building on the lessons and achievements from our first two decades of progress, in 2020 we launched our third decade of climate action — our most ambitious yet. We know that our responsibility begins with our own footprint, so our latest goal is to reach net zero across all our operations and value chain by 2030.

But no company, no matter how ambitious, can solve a challenge as big as climate change alone. One of the most powerful things we can do is build technology that allows us, our partners, and individuals around the world to take meaningful action.

It was with that sentiment in mind that we organized today’s inaugural Google Sustainability Summit in Brussels, as a space for partners working across the climate space to forge new partnerships and deepen collaboration, share ideas and inspiration and jointly move from climate pledges to progress.

Climate action Europe - moving from pledges to progress, featuring Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet
10:25

Sustainability has always been a core value for us. As CEO of Google & Alphabet Sundar Pichai put it at today’s conference, “There is no time to waste. The crisis is impacting communities around the world, including those already facing deep challenges. At Google we share the EU’s commitment to action and want to be a helpful partner in that progress.”

For those who were unable to attend the conference, we thought we would share some of our key takeaways.

Digital solutions are instrumental for climate action

Research supported by Google and conducted by Implement Consulting has identified the sectors where digital technologies can make the biggest impact on facilitating energy and emissions savings. The results, released today, make us hopeful.

Digital solutions play an important enabling role for at least 20-25% of the reductions required to achieve a net-zero economy in Europe — equivalent to the total emissions of France and Germany combined.

The research also identifies four sectors that play a critical role in moving us from pledges to progress:

  • Transport, where digital tech plays a key enabling role in 60-70% of the needed CO2 reductions and helps to save energy
  • Buildings, with tech enabling 30-35% of the needed CO2 reductions, for example by saving energy and supporting the shift away from gas
  • Agriculture, where digital tech is in its early phase, but can play an enabling role in 20-25% of the needed CO2 reductions
  • Factories and supply chains, where tech enables 10-15% of the needed CO2 reductions

Building on an existing body of research, these insights suggest that emissions savings enabled by tech significantly outweigh tech’s own emissions. For example, just two applications — videoconferencing and artificial intelligence solutions for building management — are already saving emissions comparable to those associated with all European data centers, while using a fraction of the computing capacity. That said, there is still the potential and need to decarbonize, and we as a digital sector continue to work on this.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries said during the conference, “In the EU Green Deal, digital technologies and artificial intelligence play a major role. They help us measure the effectiveness of our legislation, monitor pollution and climate change, and model solutions. They are key enablers in the green transformation."

Key piece of the decarbonization puzzle: 24/7 carbon-free energy

Another research study released today by the Technical University of Berlin, supported by Google, compares the impact of different clean electricity strategies in Europe. Traditionally, companies purchase renewable energy to match their annual electricity needs, known as “100% renewable energy matching.” This has limited benefits for decarbonization.

Compared to this, Google’s first-of-its-kind approach of hourly matching of carbon-free energy, known as 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE), reduces significantly more carbon emissions — not only for the companies concerned, but the entire electricity system. This also spurs technology innovation for decarbonization.

Most essential of all: collaboration

Our work has taught us that many of the sustainability solutions that the world needs already exist. They’ve been researched, tested and piloted. It’s the collaboration — between policymakers, climate experts, technology providers, business and individuals — that is needed to put them to use.

As Sebastian Copeland, award-winning photographer, adventurer and environmental advocate, told the conference, “We do not have the luxury of time. Technology is well on the way to offer a path to sustainability. But we need the public and private sectors, and public opinion for systemic and lasting change — and each can only move as fast as the slowest one.”

We know people are looking for answers. They expect us to be responsible partners. They expect us to come together to find solutions and act. Together, we can — and must — move from pledges to progress. The time is now.

How carbon-free energy around the clock can work

In recent years, many companies have been reducing their carbon emissions footprint by purchasing clean electricity. Traditionally, companies purchase renewable energy to match their annual electricity needs, known as “100% renewable energy matching.”

But this 100% annual matching doesn’t mean complete decarbonization, due to the variability of renewable power supply. There are times when not much wind or solar is available and companies have to use fossil-fuel generated electricity. In German, of course, there’s a word for these periods of low wind and sun: Dunkelflauten.

This is a problem, as this graph shows.

Graph showing that surplus energy doesn't fill gap between demand and supply all the time.

Graph showing that surplus energy in some periods does not fill the gap between demand and supply in other periods

During this two-week period, a company matched its total demand (grey) with wind generation (blue). However, even though there’s a surplus of clean energy in the first week, during the second week, demand outstrips available wind power.

Unfortunately, batteries cannot completely fill the gap, as they can only shift surplus power supply by a couple of hours - not days or weeks. More innovation is necessary – and it’s beginning to happen.

Hourly, carbon-free energy targets help reduce emissions

A new approach, called 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE), first introduced by Google, has emerged to address this challenge. Google and some other companies already match their electricity consumption with renewable energy on an annual basis, but more work is needed to fully eliminate their emissions and operate on clean energy around the clock.

In a new research study, published today by my research group at the Technical University of Berlin, we look at the impact of different clean electricity strategies for select countries in Europe. We find that moving from annual matching to hourly CFE targets would reduce significantly more carbon emissions - across the entire electricity system. A new group of stakeholders has come together under the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact to advance this approach.

According to our simulations for the year 2025, if a business buys energy from the grid in Ireland, its electricity is 61% carbon-free on an hourly basis. If it matches its consumption with 100% renewable energy on an annual basis it is 85% carbon-free on an hourly basis. This reduces emissions relative to the reference case of purchasing no renewables at all. But to reduce emissions further, or eliminate them, the business needs a higher hourly CFE target.

Graph showing how, in Ireland, a CFE score above 85% reduces a consumer’s emissions more than matching renewable generation on an annual basis (100% RES)

In Ireland, meeting an hourly CFE score above 85% reduces a consumer’s emissions more than matching renewable generation on an annual basis (100% RES).

And they also help decarbonise electricity system as a whole

Hourly CFE targets also benefit the electricity system as a whole. By pursuing hourly matching, companies can reduce overall electricity system emissions faster. If for example in Ireland, 25% of corporate and industry electricity demand achieved 100% 24/7 carbon-free energy in 2025, it would reduce Irish emissions by 0.6 million tons of carbon dioxide per year compared to annual matching, equivalent to 15% of Ireland’s power sector emissions.

The good news: it’s less expensive than you’d think

But how can companies meet these targets, and what does it cost? Our analysis shows that getting to 90-95% CFE doesn’t cost significantly more than annual matching. But the final 5%, because of those long winter Dunkelflauten, triples the cost if it is achieved using only wind, solar, and battery storage.

Fortunately, there are other technologies at hand: long-duration storage, such as chemical storage in the form of hydrogen, can help to store electricity for days or weeks. Carbon capture and storage, advanced geothermal, or advanced nuclear technologies, can contribute. If these technologies are available, the cost of 100% CFE is reduced.

More good news: it spurs technology innovation

Pursuing 24/7 CFE will create early markets for less mature technologies that are needed in the medium-term. Just as solar PV costs plummeted thanks to early markets and improvements in manufacturing, 24/7 CFE could accelerate the development of long-duration energy storage and clean dispatchable power. The whole power system will need these technologies as it decarbonises, so early development will benefit everyone.

To read more, please see our study.

A new accelerator for circular economy startups and nonprofits

Every year, humanity consumes far more than what the planet can naturally replenish.[a18947]To create a circular economy that can be safer, sustainable, and more equitable for everyone, we need to rebuild our relationship with physical resources and how we make, process, use, and recycle them.[ab42fb]

While this linear economic model has led to a great deal of progress for humanity in a short time, it has also created environmental harm, injustice, and disparities — particularly for lower-income and under-resourced communities that are located near industrial areas where pollution is more prevalent.[a7ed1d]To create a circular economy that can be safer, sustainable, and more equitable for everyone, we need to rebuild our relationship with physical resources and how we make, process, use, and recycle them.

At Google, we want to support efforts to create a circular economy and build a sustainable future without waste. Building on the success of our Accelerator: Climate Change, we’re pleased to announce our first Google for Startups Accelerator: Circular Economy for startups and non-profit organizations in Asia-Pacific and North America that focus on using technology to solve circularity challenges — including reuse, refill, recycling, composting, fashion, food, safe and circular materials and the built environment.

The accelerator offers ten weeks of virtual programming, which includes mentoring and technical support from Google engineers and external experts through a mix of 1-to-1 and 1-to-many learning sessions. Participants will also be assigned a dedicated Success Manager for even more support that is specific to their organization.

Applications are open from October 3, 2022 to November 14, 2022 and the program will commence in February 2023. For more information and details on how to apply visit our website.

New ways to make more sustainable choices

Search interest in terms like electric vehicles, solar energy and thrift stores reached new highs globally over the past year — suggesting that people are looking for ways to practice sustainability in their daily lives. That’s a trend we love to see.

Averting climate change requires all of us to act. At Google, we aim to make our operations more sustainable (like our goal to achieve net-zero emissions across all of our operations and value chain by 2030), and also make it easier for people and businesses to make more sustainable choices. At our Search On event, we’re sharing new ways Google can help you be more sustainable.

Find more efficient cars and eco-friendly routes

If you’re in the market for a new car, you’re probably looking to lower your fuel costs and emissions. Over the next few days, we’ll start to show the annual fuel cost for cars in search results. We’ll also show emissions estimates, so you know how a particular model you have your eye on compares to similar ones.

Animation showing the annual fuel cost of a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid compared to typical cars.

If you’re looking to buy an electric vehicle — which more than a quarter of new car buyers are — we’ll soon show estimated costs, range and charging speeds for electric vehicle models. Plus, you’ll be able to easily find public charging stations near you that are compatible with each electric vehicle. For U.S. shoppers, we’ll also show available federal tax incentives, which make the switch to electric cars even more appealing.

Animation showing the charging speeds of a Ford F-150 Lightning.

To help save money on gas, drivers have also been using our eco-friendly routing feature, which helps people find the most fuel-efficient routes using insights from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and data from the European Environment Agency. We’re now making it easy for companies — like delivery or ridesharing services — to become more sustainable by using the same eco-friendly routing capability in their apps. Check out our blog post about Maps updates to learn more about this feature.

Shop pre-owned items

Whether it’s sprucing up your wardrobe with new items or digging up hidden gems from a few seasons ago, clothing choices have an impact on emissions and waste. After all, clothing is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. Buying pre-loved items is a small action you can take to live more sustainably. Later this year on Search, we’ll highlight which products are pre-owned, making it easier than ever for you to make sustainable choices when shopping and maybe even save some money!

A jacket with a pre-owned label and green leaf icon.

Brussel up a healthier dinner

Some food ingredients are more sustainable than others. But it's not always easy to find out how the environmental impact of chicken compares to fish or how eggs compare to tofu.

Soon, when you search for certain recipes like “bean recipes” or “broccoli chicken,” you can see how one choice compares with others thanks to ingredient-level emissions information from the United Nations. This feature will soon be available worldwide to English language users.

A search for panang curry with tofu, showing how tofu compares to other proteins in terms of emissions.

Whether you’re buying pre-owned products and planning your next meal or road trip, these small changes can add up to a big impact. The future of our planet — and everyone on it — deserves nothing less.