Brand owner: Google Inc.
Head office: Mountain View, CA, USA
Sector: Websites
Categories :
Free Tags: Search Engines
| 1. Is there a policy for the brand (company) to minimize, reduce or compensate carbon emissions ? |
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Google has taken several policy measures to reduce its carbon emissions, such as using renewable energy and using 50% less energy in its data centers. | Source |
| 2. Has the brand (company) published the annual carbon-footprint of its ‘own operations’ including the energy used in the data centers? |
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Google publishes both the annual carbon-footprint of its ‘own operations’ as well as the energy used in the data centers, business travel, and so forth. For 2010 Google generated a total of 1,46 million metric tons of carbon dioxide electricity and had an electricity consumption of 2.259.998 MWh. | Source |
| 3. Has the brand (company) already reduced or compensated the carbon footprint of its own operations by at least 10% in the last 5 years? |
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Google does not communicate any footprints from earlier years. Google states that it compensates its total carbon footprint (1.46 million metric tons in 2010) through purchasing and generating renewable energy. The company clearly states that it only supports offset projects that are additional (see p.2). | Source |
| 4. Has the brand (company) set a target to reduce the carbon footprint of its 'own operations' by at least 20% within the next 5 years? |
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Google has alredy achieved its goal of going carbon neutral, and has achieved this through compensation schemes. However, Google has no clear policy to reduce (so not compensate) the carbon footprint caused by own operations. | Source |
| 5. Is at least 10% of the electricity used by the brand (company) generated from renewable resources, such as wind or solar energy? |
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Google states that it uses both wind and solar energy and states that 35% of the total electricity mix comes is renewable. However, the renewable energy directly bought by Google seems to be around 15%, the other approximately 20% is already in the grid. The the latter is not explained by Google. | Source |
| 6. Is at least 25% of the electricity used by the brand (company) generated from renewable resources, such as wind or solar energy? |
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See remark for climate change question 5. | Source |
| 7. Is at least 50% of the electricity used by the brand (company) generated from renewable resources, such as wind or solar energy? |
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See remark for climate change question 5. | Source |
| 8. Is at least 100% of the electricity used by the brand (company) generated from renewable resources, such as wind or solar energy? |
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See remark for climate change question 5. | Source |
| 9. Is the overall average Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) of the data center(s) below 1,5? |
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Google gives an overall PUE value of 1,13 and declares that this is applicable to overall use of data centers. | Source |
| 10. Is the overall average Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) of the data center(s) below 1,25? |
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See remark for climate change question 9. | Source |
| 1. Does the brand (company) have a corporate policy for environmentally responsible disposal of electronic waste? |
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Google has a policy to break down components of material that cannot be remanufactured or repurposed for responsible recycling and mentions respsonsible recycling. However, Google does not explain what it means by responsible recycling. | Source |
| 2. Does the brand have a policy to seek out suppliers and/or service providers that conduct their business in environmentally responsible ways and does the brand provide concrete examples of this policy? |
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On its website, Google gives several examples of the use of sustainable materials in its buildings and cafetaria. Google mentions to work closely with specialists that integrate environmental and health considerations. | Source |
| 1. Does the brand have a policy to seek out suppliers and/or service providers who conduct their business with socially responsible and/or fair trade principles and does the brand provide concrete examples of this policy? |
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Google describes an extensive sustainable food policy on its website in which it states that it sources its food locally as much as possible. Items that are not harvested close-by are purchased as responsibly as possible, such as coffee that comes from Fairtrade sources. | Source |