An American tech company reaches a milestone in energy sustainability while its indirect emissions continue to rise
NVIDIA, one of the major players in the tech industry, has announced that it now uses 100% renewable energy across all of its offices and data centers under its operational control. This achievement, reached during the 2025 fiscal year, marks the fulfillment of a goal the company set in 2023 to rely solely on renewable electricity by 2025.
The milestone was disclosed in its latest sustainability report, where the company details that it consumed a total of 821,200 MWh of energy during the period. Of this, 779,316 MWh came from purchased renewable sources, and 818 MWh were generated through its own solar facilities. The remaining was made up of 41,066 MWh from fuels.
“In fiscal year 2025, we increased the use of renewable electricity to 100% in our offices and data centers under our operational control, thus achieving our goal,” the company states. This renewable energy comes from green tariffs, energy attribute certificates (EACs), power purchase agreements (PPAs), and onsite generation.
More sustainable data centers, but rising emissions
Despite the success in renewable energy use, the report also highlights a more complex reality. While Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—related to purchased electricity—have been reduced to zero, Scope 1 emissions (direct emissions from sources under the company’s control) slightly increased from 11,896 metric tons of CO₂e to 12,952.
Even more concerning is the trend in Scope 3 emissions, which are linked to NVIDIA’s supply chain. These soared from 3.5 million metric tons of CO₂e in the previous fiscal year to 6.9 million. This increase is mainly due to the category of “purchased goods and services,” which alone rose by 2.8 million metric tons.
Water efficiency and technological recycling
NVIDIA’s sustainability commitment extends beyond energy. The company has implemented closed-loop liquid cooling systems in its data centers to reduce water consumption, thereby avoiding evaporative cooling. Specifically, this technology uses a mixture of propylene glycol, water, and corrosion inhibitors in a closed circuit, enhancing efficiency without sacrificing cooling capacity.
Regarding waste management, NVIDIA recycled 335 metric tons of electronic waste in 2025, a significant jump from 58 tons the previous year. However, water usage also increased: water extraction rose from 382,636 m³ to 409,814 m³, and direct consumption grew to 141,772 m³.
Future commitments without a set neutrality date
Although the company has made tangible progress in energy sustainability and waste management, it has not yet set a concrete date to achieve total carbon neutrality. In contrast, other tech giants like Amazon have announced similar goals of exclusively using renewable energy, though these have faced scrutiny over the types and quality of offsets used.
NVIDIA remains cautious: “We are exploring additional options to expand our renewable energy supply as our global footprint grows,” the report states. While this demonstrates ambition, it also reveals that the path towards comprehensive sustainability is still under development.
With the rise of artificial intelligence and the global increase in energy consumption linked to large data centers, NVIDIA’s steps point in a direction that other tech giants will need to follow to maintain their credibility in an increasingly environmentally demanding landscape.