DONNA CALDERON
NET ZERO
DONNA CALDERON
TITLE: SENIOR LEAD FOR ENERGY STRATEGY
COMPANY: GOOGLE INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY LOCATION: CALIFORNIA, US
Donna Calderon’ s career in the energy sector brought her to Google in 2019, where she started leading the tech giant’ s energy strategy. As the lead in this area, Donna was instrumental in making the CCS project at Broadwing possible.
Google and Low Carbon Infra intend to use their collaboration to advance technical and operational improvements, including raising CO₂ capture rates and improving system performance and economics.
“ It was a privilege to lead this deal and collaborate with an extraordinary internal team and forward-thinking partners,” explains Donna Calderon, Senior Lead for Energy Strategy at Google.
The company has emphasised that transparency will be critical to ensure the environmental integrity of its CCS projects.
Growing energy demands and AI development The announcement comes at a time when technology companies need more energy than ever, with the rise of AI and the expansion of data centres dependent on huge levels of electricity.
In 2024, Google revealed that five of its AI-powered products helped users collectively reduce an estimated 26 million metric tonnes of CO₂, which is roughly equivalent to emissions from the annual energy use of more than 3.5 million US homes.
The company views this CCS investment as part of a broader strategy to harness AI’ s potential while also managing the associated energy demands through diverse clean energy technologies.
“ We’ re proud to be building a diverse portfolio of advanced clean technologies, which together are helping create a bright energy future for people everywhere,” says Kate. sustainabilitymag. com 77