Energy Unplugged by Aurora EP.177 Michael Terrell, Sr. Director for Energy and Climate, Google
7 snips
Jan 25, 2024 Michael Terrell, Senior Director for Energy and Climate at Google, discusses power consumption of data centers, achieving Google's 24/7 carbon-free energy goal, upcoming policy developments, and potential carbon reduction solutions.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Data Center Demand Is Rapidly Growing
- Google consumed about 21 TWh in 2022, roughly four times San Francisco's electricity use.
- Their fleet demand grew ~20% year-over-year, driven by internet growth and added AI workloads.
AI Training Is Improving Rapidly
- ML workloads are a growing but still partial share of data center energy use, with ~25% of workloads related to ML in one study.
- Google reduced training energy per model up to 100x and associated emissions ~2,000x through efficiency work.
Built A Data Center On A Retiring Coal Site
- Google sited a data center on the site of a retiring coal plant in North Alabama to drive local renewables.
- The deal required the utility to add significant renewable capacity to that grid.