As power needs of AI push emissions up, tech companies explore experimental clean energy projects such as atomic fusion and futuristic geothermal power plants
As power needs of AI push emissions up and put big tech in a bind, companies put their faith in elusive — some say improbable — technologies.
Washington Post
Related Coverage
- As power needs of AI push emissions up, tech companies explore experimental clean energy projects such as atomic fusion and futuristic geothermal power plants itprotoday
- AI literally helping us burn the world up faster. — “In Omaha, where Google and Meta recently set up sprawling data center operations, a coal plant that was supposed to go offline in 2022 will now be operational through at least 2026. The local utility has scrapped plans to install large batteries to store solar power.” … @susankayequinn@wandering.shop
- Big props to Caroline and Evan and the Washington Post for tackling this issue, which in many ways is asking an existential question … Aaron Zubaty
- Inefficient use of high-performance computing is a problem not only because it occupies resources that someone else could be using, but because it harms the planet. … David Mebane
- It's really disingenuous to say “AI will help solve global warming and GHG emissions to such a degree that we don't need to worry about AI exhausting the power grid” … Mats Myrberg
- We could power AI with #CleanFirm generation from #geothermal, #nuclear, and #LongDurationEnergyStorage coupled with #solar and #wind but it requires … Jigar Shah
- This article touches on a topic I've seen popping up with growing frequency and alarm. Regardless of who wins in November … Dave Sulek
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- Happy to be quoted in this article that pulls no punches: — “The tech giant and its partners say they expect to harness fusion by 2028 … Tamara Kneese, Ph.D.
- AI is exhausting the power grid Hacker News
- How the AI Boom Overloads Global Power Grids through Data Center Demand WinBuzzer · Markus Kasanmascheff
- By 2034, global energy consumption by data centers is projected to surpass 1,580 TWh, equivalent to India's total energy usage. … Ashish Verma
Discussion
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@robertwrighter
Robert Wright
on x
Good piece on how the AI boom is increasing fossil fuel consumption, hurting the fight against climate change. The piece nicely undermines Silicon Valley PR about meeting the increased power demands with clean energy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
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@silvermanjacob
Jacob Silverman
on x
This is almost exactly what bitcoiners have been saying in recent years in response to crypto mining stressing grids and prolonging the lives of fossil fuel plants https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... [image]
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@washingtonpost
@washingtonpost
on x
Microsoft is betting on an effort to generate power from atomic fusion, which has eluded scientists for a century. Other companies are hoping to use small nuclear reactors or geothermal energy to power the AI revolution. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
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@silvermanjacob
Jacob Silverman
on x
This is a major problem, and the only solutions being proposed by industry are moonshot fusion bets and pouring more resources into developing an AGI that'll somehow reverse all this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... [image]
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@carnage4life
Dare Obasanjo
on x
The demand for data centers is hurting efforts to fight climate change by keeping demand for coal power plants and also straining power grids. AI leaders like Sam Altman and Microsoft have talked about building more nuclear power plants as a solution. https://www.washingtonpost.c…
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@washingtonpost
@washingtonpost
on x
The artificial intelligence industry is driving a nationwide data center building boom. Those data centers will require massive amounts of power — and Big Tech is going all in on experimental clean-energy projects that have long odds of success. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ..…
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r/singularity
r
on reddit
“AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution.”
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r/solarpunk
r
on reddit
Does AI really have a place in a solarpunk future?
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r/technology
r
on reddit
AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution.
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r/the_everything_bubble
r
on reddit
AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution. As power needs of AI push emissions up and put big tech in a bind …
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r/OpenAI
r
on reddit
AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution.
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r/technews
r
on reddit
AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution.
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r/environment
r
on reddit
AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution. As power needs of AI push emissions up and put big tech in a bind …
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r/climate
r
on reddit
AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution. As power needs of AI push emissions up and put big tech in a bind …
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r/fusion
r
on reddit
AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution. (Non-paywall link in comments.)
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@txo.bsky.social
Chuy
on bluesky
AI would consciously decide to eliminate humankind, they said. — It was an existential threat, they said. — They were right, but for the wrong reasons. [embedded post]
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@karin62366
Karen Wu
on x
New AI data centers are coming online so fast that the electricity demand is straining global power grids and threatening clean energy goals https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @bbgvisualdata [image]
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@leonardonclt
Leonardo
on x
What's alarming is that the growth in electricity demand from data centers is such that it could soon equal or exceed some countries' renewable energy supply. In Ireland, data center's energy usage was already equal to 53% of its renewable energy supply in 2022. [image]
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@dinabass
Dina Bass
on x
The rush to build and distribute AI products from global data centers is wreaking havoc with power systems “I don't think we can move that much electricity around the globe, forget about generating it,” says Ali Farhadi, CEO of the Allen Institute for AI. https://www.bloomberg.co…
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@leonardonclt
Leonardo
on x
🚨NEW🚨: AI Is Wreaking Havoc on Global Power Systems We analyzed data on 1000s of data centers and found that AI data centers are coming online so fast that electricity demand is straining global power grids and threatening clean energy goals 🎁 https://www.bloomberg.com/... [video…
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@leonardonclt
Leonardo
on x
Because of their huge electricity capacity, data centers are also HUGE, literally, some of these buildings are now the size of 130 soccer fields or TWICE the size of the mall of America (the biggest shopping mall in the US with a rollercoaster inside). [video]
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@bbgvisualdata
@bbgvisualdata
on x
Read The Big Take: New AI data centers are coming online so fast that the electricity demand is straining global power grids and threatening clean energy goals. 🔗⚡️🤖: https://www.bloomberg.com/... [video]
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@carnage4life
Dare Obasanjo
on x
The capital intensive nature of generative AI dwarfs the costs of prior software waves like the internet or smartphones. It's not just paying an arm and a leg to Nvidia for GPUs but also needing to build data centers with huge power requirements. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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@leonardonclt
Leonardo
on x
Following the Virginia, US, model, South East Asia is rapidly becoming a new capital for data centers, especially Malaysia, where thousands of Megawatts of capacity are under development. [image]
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@leonardonclt
Leonardo
on x
Data centers use A MASSIVE AMOUNT of electricity, more than most countries use in an entire year [image]