Artificial intelligence advancements are reshaping the world, but with unexpected consequences. According to an Interesting Engineering report, Google’s AI technologies like Gemini have surged the tech giant’s emissions by a staggering 48% in the past five years.
The International Energy Agency predicts that Google’s total electricity consumption will double by 2026, reaching 1,000 TWh, equivalent to Japan’s current electricity demand. Additionally, research firm SemiAnalysis forecasts that AI could contribute to 4.5% of global energy generation by 2030.
As more companies worldwide delve into developing AI products and services, there is a growing need for data centers to support these programs. These data centers consume massive amounts of energy to operate, with experts noting that new data centers are being constructed at a rate of one every three days.
This surge in energy consumption from data centers has made it challenging for tech firms like Google to reduce their emissions. Google has set a target to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, aiming to offset emissions with clean energy sources. The escalating energy demand has also led some to suggest delaying the retirement of fossil fuel plants to meet the energy needs of these data centers.
In response to the increasing demand for energy, some are turning to nuclear power generation and uranium as potential solutions to fulfill the energy requirements of AI technologies.
