Artificial intelligence data centers’ carbon emissions rival commercial airlines: study

Data centers are humble facilities across the United States that for decades have housed the computing equipment needed to run IT systems. The AI ​​boom has transformed these facilities into priceless amenities that play a key role in driving AI models. But at the same time, they also increasingly contribute to environmental pollution.

According to a recent study by Public, U.S. data centers emitted at least 106 million tons of carbon dioxide last year, three times the amount released in 2018 and accounting for more than 2% of U.S. energy consumption carbon emissions last year. health researchers at the campus. According to a report in MIT Technology Review, which first reported the findings, the data center’s carbon emissions are comparable to those of the domestic commercial aviation industry, which produces about 131 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

The findings shed light on the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, which consumes huge amounts of energy. For example, a ChatGPT query consumes nearly 10 times as much power as a Google (GOOGL) search, according to Goldman Sachs researchers. Much of this energy is consumed by data centers, which train and deploy artificial intelligence models, accounting for 4% of the country’s total electricity use last year — a number that is likely to increase by 2030 as big tech companies continue to build these facilities. More than times.

The study analyzed energy use and emissions at 2,132 data centers in the United States, representing about 78% of the national total between September 2023 and August this year. The United States hosts more than one-third of the world’s data centers.

The study’s authors wrote that soaring emissions associated with artificial intelligence-related data center use have caused big tech companies to “veer off course from their sustainability commitments.” Google’s carbon emissions last year were 13% higher than the year before. Over the past four years, Microsoft’s (MSFT) emissions have surged about 29%.

Another cause for concern stems from the “cleanliness” of the energy supplied to the data center over the past year. The study found that the carbon intensity of this type of energy is 48% higher than the national average. The report also found that U.S. data centers are often located in carbon-intensive energy-rich geographic areas. Fossil fuel power plants account for 56% of the energy generated by these facilities, with another 16% coming from coal-fired power plants.

The remaining energy is generated by nuclear and renewable energy sources, on which the technology industry appears to be increasingly dependent. Industry-wide demand for zero-emission power has sparked a frenzy of nuclear energy deals among big tech companies. Google, Microsoft and Amazon (AMZN) have all formed nuclear energy partnerships in recent months.