I’ve avoided writing about it, because good data on its energy consumption and climate implications is hard to get (see our podcast episode with Sa

Sustainability by numbers

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2024-11-18 14:30:08

I’ve avoided writing about it, because good data on its energy consumption and climate implications is hard to get (see our podcast episode with Sasha Luccioni), and without decent data, I’m just wand-waving.

But a few things made me think I should finally say something. I doubt it will be the last article I write on the topic because things are evolving quickly.

First, the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently published its landmark World Energy Outlook 2024 report. It suggests that energy demand for data centres and AI will still be pretty small for the next five years at least. I read it as them saying: “Everyone just needs to chill out a bit.” But in a more diplomatic way. 1

Second, we’ve been here before with fears around uncontrollable growth in energy demand for data centres. It’s worth looking at why the doom scenario didn’t come true and what similarities (or differences) we’re facing today.

Third, the public and media conversation on this has been poor. I lose track of the number of headlines and articles I’ve seen that quote random numbers—without context—to show how much energy or water AI already uses. The numbers are often fairly small but sound big because they’re not given with any context of how much energy or water we use for everything else.