AI Affects Big Tech’s Efforts Towards Clean Energy Transition

By Shubhendra Anand , 19 August, 2024

Big techs play a major role in the clean energy transition in 2024. Since the beginning of the transformation process, big tech companies are investing in renewables to support net zero emissions by the end of 2050. Some companies from the big techs group aim to achieve the clean energy transition by 2030. However, it depends solely on the company's work procedure that decides the dependency on renewables. Experts claim that artificial intelligence can facilitate the clean energy transition. Artificial intelligence can increase work efficiency and optimize the processes included. AI can predict renewable sources to enhance power grid management as well. However, a survey in 2024 suggests that artificial intelligence can lead to the downfall of big tech's clean energy progress.

According to the surveys, significant data center growth demands a growing need for artificial intelligence in 2024. It shows that artificial intelligence anticipates being responsible for consuming 3.5 percent of global electricity by 2030. The dependency on artificial intelligence increases energy consumption. It requires a large amount of electricity that projects a considerable supply from the power grids. Since renewable sources for production are not at an advanced level, fossil fuel dependency persists when powering data centers. As the growth of artificial intelligence increases, it also indicates the expansion of data centers. The World Economic Forum shows that 85 percent of energy demand will be from developing countries shortly.

                  Growth in AI And Data Centers Increases the Demand of Electricity