AI, Data Centers, And Energy Use: The Path To Sustainability
InformationWeek, Wednesday, May 15th, 2024
The increasing use of AI and data centers is leading to a surge in energy consumption, posing risks for energy, tech, and data companies. It also presents an opportunity for these companies to decarbonize, build trust, and reduce long-term costs.
Thanks in part to skyrocketing artificial intelligence use, data center usage is booming -- so is energy consumption. This could spell risks for energy, tech and data, and companies alike. This also creates a significant opportunity for data and tech companies to decarbonize, build trust and reduce their long-term costs.
Data center energy consumption has already surpassed the energy consumption of several developing countries. Several estimates indicate that data centers make up about 2% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions -- on par with the entire aviation industry. By 2040, projections show that the number could increase to about 14% of global GHG emissions.