In 2017, we first reached our longstanding goal of buying enough renewable energy to match 100 percent of Google’s global annual electricity use. And we’re on a roll: during 2018, our purchases of energy from sources like solar and wind once again matched our entire annual electricity consumption.

We’re the first organization of our size to achieve 100 percent renewable energy two years running, but just as important as reaching our goal is how we did it. Addressing climate change will require adding renewable energy wherever possible and, for us as a company, making decisions that have an impact beyond our walls. We’ve asked ourselves: how can we use our purchasing to do the most good in the broader energy system?

Our first priority is to use as little energy as possible, operating our offices and facilities sustainably, with a strong focus on our data centers. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence and chip design, our data centers are seven times more energy efficient today than they were five years ago. Our latest Environmental Report shows that computing using centralized cloud services is up to 85 percent more efficient than using on-premises servers, which is good news for our users and the planet.