Google wants to make its data centers more sustainable worldwide and also has concrete plans for its location in Saint-Ghislain. The focus is on lower water consumption.

Google has proposed the 2022 environmental report. The American company wants to continue its sustainability efforts and has a big goal: to drastically reduce water consumption. Before the performance, our colleagues from Ecotips had the opportunity to talk about the goals in an exclusive video call. At the meeting, it turned out that Google also wants to make the data center in Saint-Ghislain significantly more sustainable.

Every business, big or small, has sustainability at stake. This applies all the more to large international players and energy guzzlers like Google. The Internet group has set up large data centers at 24 locations worldwide. They all need refrigeration and there is a lot that can be improved in terms of sustainability and ecological use of the precious substance. Ben Townsend (Head of Sustainability Data Centers) and Adam Elman (EMEA Head of Sustainability) came to the table to explain the Annual Report and in particular the future strategy in more detail.

Annual Report 2022

In the report, Google (of course) praises its sustainability performance. The company aims to be carbon-free by 2030. To achieve this goal, Google is focusing on two growth opportunities: On the one hand, it wants to give the company a more sustainable and environmentally friendly boost through artificial intelligence. On the other hand, Google wants to encourage other organizations, companies and citizens to reduce CO2 emissions through information campaigns.

The company avoided more than 1.2 million tons of CO2 emissions by 2022 by directing Google Maps users to eco-friendly routes. The American Internet giant has signed more than 20 renewable energy contracts. The company will continue on this path and expects an investment of around four billion dollars. Water is a final key pillar that the company is focused on and looking to expand. In 2022, various projects will ensure that more than a billion liters will be collected and returned to the environment.

Cool data centers

Ben Townsend spoke first during the conversation. The likeable American comes from a steel family and recognized the importance of water early on. “I’ve always wanted to do something with sustainability, especially in the area of ​​water management. At Google I had the chance to really take off. Data centers require a tremendous amount of cooling and this can be done in a number of ways. Air and water cooling or a combination of both are most commonly used. At Google, we look for the best way for each region, because every system has advantages and disadvantages. We’re looking at overall energy efficiency,” said Ben Townsend.

The water strategy at Google is based on three pillars. In addition to responsible and transparent use at the local level, this includes long-term thinking and the provision of (residual) water for the public. “Even though we’ve made a lot of efforts, there are still opportunities,” says Adam Elman. “For example, we want to focus even more on the reuse of water. Our goal is to be water positive by 2030. This means that we aim to give more water back to the community in our data centers than we use. This can be done by collecting rainwater, but also by upgrading the waste water, etc.”

Saint Ghislain

In 2010, Google opened a data center in Saint-Ghislain in Wallonia. This is (for now) the only website in Belgium and one of 24 worldwide. It was Google’s first website to run entirely on an advanced water evaporative cooling system. The site gets most of its water from the nearby industrial canal. Last year, this data center used no less than 1.5 billion liters of water. The largest part, over 96 percent, consisted of process water. Last year, the Saint-Ghislain site discharged more than 450 million liters of water. This makes it one of Google’s eight data centers that used the most water.

Even the top people at Google are aware that there is still room for improvement in this area. “Often it is water that cannot currently be treated and reused,” explains Ben Townsend. “We plan to work with businesses in the region over the coming months and years to see how we can valorize and reuse excess water. The goal of each site is to be water positive, and to do that we want and need to work with the neighborhood.”