The AI revolution is bad news for Net Zero
October 1st, 2023|Comments Offon
Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm. New AI applications are announced daily. Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and many companies tout plans for artificial intelligence capabilities. But the AI revolution is bad news for global efforts to achieve net-zero emissions.
The AI revolution is based on high-performance AI chips, which are capable of revolutionary levels of computer processing power and can sort through vast amounts of stored data. Multiple AI chips reside on each of dozens of boards, housed in endless racks of servers, which are sited in warehouse-sized AI data centers. While the rack of a conventional data center server draws roughly seven kilowatts of electricity, an AI server rack can use up to 50 kilowatts of power.
Spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 44 percent over the next six years. Total data center power requirements will increase by at least a factor of six and maybe by as much as ten times by 2029. Greenhouse gas emissions from AI data centers will increase by a similar amount.
https://www.cfact.org/2023/10/01/the-ai-revolution-is-bad-news-for-net-zero/
