Google, Microsoft consume more electric than some countries
With new advancements in digital technology, the scale of companies operating in this field is growing every single day.
- Technology
- Published Date: 02:57 | 20 August 2024
- Modified Date: 03:05 | 20 August 2024
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Companies Market Cap reported that the market value of the top 10 technology companies, including Google, Apple, and Microsoft, now exceeds that of China's 2023 GDP of $17.6 trillion.
Owners of tech companies also benefit from this growth—- they continue to top wealth rankings. Elon Musk leads the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $227 billion. In fact, eight of the top ten billionaires on this list are involved in technology.
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Increased energy consumptions parallel that of countries
According to data from Visual Capitalist, Google and Microsoft each consume 24 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. This amount exceeds the electricity use of countries such as Jordan (20 terawatt-hours), Iceland (19 terawatt-hours), Ghana (19 terawatt-hours), and North Korea (18 terawatt-hours).
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The combined electricity consumption of these two tech giants totals 48 terawatt-hours, surpassing the electricity consumption of Nigeria, which has a population of 223 million and uses 31 terawatt-hours.
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Other technology companies listed consume significantly less power, with Meta using 12 terawatt-hours, Apple 2 terawatt-hours, and Nvidia 0.5 terawatt-hours.
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Statistics indicate that data centers are the primary reason behind the high electricity consumption of major tech companies.
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According to Google's 2024 Environmental Report, electricity use by data centers increased by 17% in 2023, with Google's data centers accounting for 10% of global data center electricity use.
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Microsoft has also seen a significant increase in electricity consumption driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, with its electricity use rising from 11 terawatt-hours in 2020 to 24 terawatt-hours over the past four years.