AI's Energy Hunger: Can Data Centres Keep Pace Sustainably?
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that data centres already accounted for 1-1.5% of global electricity consumption in 2022, before the current AI boom.
With global electricity demand growing by 2.2% in 2023 and projections suggesting this figure could double by 2026, the environmental impact of AI-driven data centres is becoming increasingly concerning.
Reports in September 2024 indicate that emissions from in-house data centres of tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple may be a staggering 662% higher than official figures.
The battle between AI and emissions
Elio van Puyvelde, Chief Information Officer at Nscale, says: "The race for AI dominance is heating up, but at what cost?
“The increase in emissions is largely down to legacy data centres unable to cope with the power demands of AI.
“And while big tech invests heavily in renewables, the sheer scale of the AI boom threatens to overwhelm those efforts."
Morgan Stanley predicts that data centre carbon emissions could triple by 2030 due to AI, potentially emitting 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2.
This projection places the tech industry at odds with global net-zero targets and energy security concerns.
However, there are pathways to mitigate these environmental impacts.
Elio suggests that data centres can be built with sustainability in mind from the ground up.
"Ensuring data centres are built where there is a stable supply of renewable power is one thing, but the industry must focus on maximising efficiency too," he says.
"The reality is AI workloads are so often poorly optimised, wasting energy use and delivering poor returns.
“Accelerating AI hardware and software optimisation is one of the best routes to managing AI energy consumption levels."
Innovating sustainably
Dave King, Senior Principal Product Engineer at Cadence, proposes an innovative solution: digital twin technology.
This approach involves creating virtual replicas of physical data centres, allowing for more efficient management and optimisation.
Dave explains: "These virtual replicas of the physical data centre empower facility managers to reduce the carbon footprint of AI by enabling them to address not only current but future stranded capacity.
“It also allows data centres to improve power management and assess the effectiveness of heat rejection."
The benefits of digital twin technology extend beyond immediate energy savings.
"They can even be used to identify the least amount of energy needed to cool a facility without impacting its operational effectiveness," Dave says.
As the UK government designates data centres as Critical National Infrastructure and major tech companies like AWS commit billions to data centre investments, the pressure to innovate sustainably intensifies.
The challenge lies in balancing the transformative power of AI with environmental responsibilities.
Elio says: "Companies must optimise and fine-tune AI models as well as invest in energy efficient AI accelerator hardware.
“By prioritising data centre efficiency through innovative technologies, AI's growth doesn't need to burden the environment.
“Rather, this shift fosters responsible innovation and will reduce the need for endless data centre construction."
******
Make sure you check out the latest edition of Sustainability Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Sustainability LIVE 2024
******
Sustainability Magazine is a BizClik brand
******
