Veo 3 Environmental Impact
Native synchronised audio+video at 4K resolution
- Architecture
- Diffusion Transformer with native audio
- Provider
Energy per query
400.0 Wh
1333x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
52.0 g
Google Global Network grid (300 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
430 mL
~2 queries to fill 1 litre
Processing location
Google global network (64% renewable)
Provider
Category
Video Generation
Grid carbon intensity
300 g CO2/kWh (64% renewable)
How does Veo 3 compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
Veo 3 generates video with native synchronised audio — dialogue, sound effects, and ambient sound — at up to 4K resolution. At ~400 Wh per clip, the audio pipeline adds approximately 15% overhead compared to Veo 2. Announced at Google I/O 2025.
Power Source & Carbon
Runs on Google's TPU infrastructure. Google's lower carbon intensity (130 g CO2/kWh) helps offset the massive energy consumption of video generation.
Water Usage
At ~430 mL per clip. Less than Sora 2 despite similar capabilities, thanks to Google's cooling efficiency.
About Veo 3
Veo 3 sits at the high end of AI energy consumption at 400.0 Wh per generating one short video clip — over 1333x what a Google search uses. Google's video generation model, released in May 21, 2025, native synchronised audio+video at 4k resolution. The extreme energy cost reflects the computational complexity of video generation: generating coherent frames across both space and time.
Veo 3 benefits from running in Google Global Network, one of the cleaner grid regions in our dataset at 300 gCO₂/kWh with 64% renewable energy. The same model running in a coal-heavy region would produce significantly more carbon per query.
These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — Google has not published official energy data for Veo 3. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
Veo 3 in Context
The video generation premium
One Veo 3 generation uses 400.0 Wh — the equivalent of 33 full smartphone charges. Video generation requires running a diffusion model across both spatial and temporal dimensions, making it fundamentally more compute-intensive than text or image tasks. This is not an efficiency problem to be solved; it is an inherent characteristic of the task.
Google Veo Family
How energy efficiency has evolved across versions.
What does your Veo 3 usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use Veo 3.
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How much energy does Veo 3 use per query?
Each Veo 3 query consumes approximately 400.0 Wh of energy. This is 1333x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is Veo 3's carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of Google global network (64% renewable), each query produces approximately 52.0 g of CO2. The grid in this region has a carbon intensity of 300 g CO2/kWh with 64% renewable energy.
How much water does Veo 3 use?
Each query consumes approximately 430 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does Veo 3 compare to a Google search?
A Veo 3 query uses 1333x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while Veo 3 uses 400.0 Wh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Diffusion Transformer with native audio
Release date
2025-05-21
Open source
No