Veo 3.1 Environmental Impact
Up to 60-second clips at 1080p with native audio
- Architecture
- Diffusion Transformer with native audio (extended)
- Provider
Energy per query
2.40 kWh
8000x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
312.0 g
Google Global Network grid (300 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
2.59 L
~0 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 3.1 compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
Veo 3.1 can generate up to 60-second videos at 1080p with native audio — a major step up in duration. At ~2,400 Wh for a 60-second clip, energy scales roughly linearly with duration. A Lite variant is available for lower-cost, shorter clips.
Power Source & Carbon
Runs on Google's TPU infrastructure. Extended video generation requires sustained multi-TPU computation.
Water Usage
At ~2,590 mL (~2.6 litres) for a 60-second clip — comparable to Sora 2 per second of video.
About Veo 3.1
Veo 3.1 sits at the high end of AI energy consumption at 2.40 kWh per generating one short video clip — over 8000x what a Google search uses. Google's video generation model, released in October 14, 2025, up to 60-second clips at 1080p with native audio. The extreme energy cost reflects the computational complexity of video generation: generating coherent frames across both space and time.
Veo 3.1 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 3.1. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
Veo 3.1 in Context
The efficiency alternative
Stable Video Diffusion performs the same type of task using just 150.0 Wh per query — 94% less energy than Veo 3.1. For a user sending 25 queries per day, switching would save 20531.3 kWh per year.
The video generation premium
One Veo 3.1 generation uses 2.40 kWh — the equivalent of 200 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.
Key Insights
Google Veo Family
How energy efficiency has evolved across versions.
What does your Veo 3.1 usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use Veo 3.1.
Calculate My ComputeFrequently Asked Questions
How much energy does Veo 3.1 use per query?
Each Veo 3.1 query consumes approximately 2.40 kWh of energy. This is 8000x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is Veo 3.1's carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of Google global network (64% renewable), each query produces approximately 312.0 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 3.1 use?
Each query consumes approximately 2.59 L of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does Veo 3.1 compare to a Google search?
A Veo 3.1 query uses 8000x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while Veo 3.1 uses 2.40 kWh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Diffusion Transformer with native audio (extended)
Release date
2025-10-14
Open source
No