Is AI a curse or a blessing for sustainable development?
- frederickjeskescho
- 7 oct.
- 2 min de lecture
On the one hand, from digital twins assisting engineering and operations of water treatment plants to predictive maintenance and 100% availability of public transport systems, AI is a huge blessing, driving careful use of resources, improving resilience against extreme weather events etc
On the other hand, expansion of AI is leading to exponential growth of data and... energy consumption.
For data centers alone electricity demand is projected to triple by 2030.
The question thus becomes whether AI can unlock renewable or sustainable energy or will keep fossile energy at its current plateau: according to the IEA, global coal demand is expected to grow in 2024 to an all-time high of 8.8 bn tonnes.
And here again, on the one hand, the 20-year power supply deal between Oklo Inc, a nuclear energy start-up, and Switch, a leading data centre operator, exemplifies the impetus provided by IA, in this case for the development of small modular reactors: Oklo is to build reactors with a total capacity of up to 12 gigawatts !
Similarly AI could drive the use of geothermal energy through fracking technologies: IEA estimates, geothermal energy could provide up to 8 per cent of the global electricity supply by 2050.
On the other hand, to cover AI energy demand, conventional fuel will certainly be required as well, thus delaying the energy transition. Last, the stress on power transmission and distribution, created by intermittent energy and the shift to electricity will be massively accelerated by the demand of data centers.
Where does all of this lead us?
According to the insightful report by KKR: « The scale of the digital power problem is one that will require scaled investment and tremendous coordination and collaboration among many stakeholders to solve ». Sounds like the very challenge of the fight against climte change, right?
What are your thoughts?
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