{"id":16280,"date":"2025-04-10T13:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T13:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1412989"},"modified":"2025-04-10T13:00:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T13:00:55","slug":"an-answer-to-ais-energy-addiction-more-ai-says-the-iea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=16280","title":{"rendered":"An answer to AI\u2019s energy addiction? More AI, says the IEA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published its first major report on the AI gold rush\u2019s impact on global energy consumption \u2014 and its findings paint a worrying, and perhaps contradictory, picture.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Energy use from data centres, including for artificial intelligence<\/a> applications, is predicted to double over the next five years to 3% of global energy use. AI-specific power consumption could drive over half of this growth globally, the report found.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some data centres today consume as much electricity as 100,000 households. The hyperscalers of the future could gobble up 20x that number, according to the IEA. By 2030, data centres are predicted to run on 50% renewable energy, the rest comprising a mix of coal, nuclear power, and new natural gas-fired plants.<\/span><\/p>\n

The findings paint a bleak picture for the climate, but there\u2019s a silver lining, the IEA said. While AI is set to gobble up more energy, its ability to unlock efficiencies from power systems and discover new materials could provide a counterweight.  <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWith the rise of AI, the energy sector is at the forefront of one of the most important technological revolutions of our time,\u201d said Fatih Birol, IEA\u2019s executive director. \u201cAI is a tool, potentially an incredibly powerful one, but it is up to us \u2013 our societies, governments, and companies \u2013 how we use it.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

AI can help to <\/span>optimise power grids<\/span><\/a>, increase the energy output of solar and wind farms through <\/span>better weather forecasting<\/span><\/a>, and detect leaks in vital infrastructure. The technology could also be used to more effectively plan transport routes or design cities. AI also has the potential to <\/span>discover new green materials<\/span><\/a> for tech like batteries. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, the IEA warned that the combined impact of these AI-powered solutions would be \u201cmarginal\u201d unless governments create the necessary \u201cenabling conditions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The net impact of AI on emissions \u2013 and therefore climate change \u2013 will depend on how AI applications are rolled out, what incentives and business cases arise, and how regulatory frameworks respond to the evolving AI landscape,\u201d the report said.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Divisions in the AI energy debate<\/h2>\n

While AI could, theoretically, curb energy use, major questions remain. Meanwhile, the technology\u2019s negative climate impact is already set in. <\/span><\/p>\n

The IEA predicts data<\/a> centres will contribute 1.4% of global \u201ccombustion emissions\u201d by 2030, almost triple today\u2019s figure and nearly as much as air travel. While that doesn\u2019t sound like much, the IEA\u2019s figure doesn\u2019t account for the embodied emissions created from constructing all those new data centres and producing all the materials therein. <\/span><\/p>\n

Alex de Vries<\/span>, a researcher at VU Amsterdam and the founder of Digiconomist, told <\/span>Nature<\/span><\/a> that he thinks the IEA has underestimated the growth in AI\u2019s energy consumption.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the exact number, we\u2019re talking several percentage of our global electricity consumption,\u201d said <\/span>de Vries<\/span>. <\/span>This uptick in data centre electricity use \u201ccould be a serious risk for our ability to achieve our climate goals,\u201d he added.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Claude Turmes, Luxembourg\u2019s energy minister, accused the IEA of presenting an overly optimistic view and not addressing the tough realities that policymakers need to hear.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of making practical recommendations to governments on how to regulate and thus minimise the huge negative impact of AI and new mega data centres on the energy system, the IEA and its [executive director] Fatih Birol are making a welcome gift to the new Trump administration and the tech companies which sponsored this new US government,\u201d he told <\/span>the Guardian<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from AI, there are more <\/span>proven ways to curb energy use<\/span><\/a> from data centres. These include immersion cooling, pi<\/span>oneered by <\/span>startups like Netherlands-based Asperitas, Spain\u2019s Submer, and UK-based Iceotope.<\/span> Another is repurposing <\/span>data centre heat<\/span><\/a> for other applications, which is the value proposition of UK venture DeepGreen. <\/span><\/p>\n

All of these weird and wonderful solutions will need to scale up fast if they are to make a dent in data centres\u2019 thirst for electricity. Ultimately, <\/span>we also need to start using computing power <\/span>more wisely<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>  <\/span><\/p>\n

The debate on sustainable AI will continue at TNW Conference<\/a>, which takes place on June 19-20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now on sale<\/a>. Use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the check-out to get 30% off the price tag.<\/em><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published its first major report on the AI gold rush\u2019s impact on global energy consumption \u2014 and its findings paint a worrying, and perhaps contradictory, picture.  …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}