Time to talk about AI’s carbon problem

Climate Focus

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello!

I receive numerous emails telling me about the latest “cutting edge technology” that “enables best-in-class” solutions by “utilizing artificial intelligence” and “advanced machine learning” to solve a climate-related problem.

But what I have often wondered is how these power-hungry tools can square the circle of solving the problem while simultaneously being a part of it.

Well, it seems like I wasn’t alone in thinking about AI’s contribution to the climate crisis as Morgan Stanley recently released a report about the boom in data centers increasing global emissions.

The report notes that the rise in data centers is expected to produce about 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions globally through the end of the decade and accelerate investments in decarbonization efforts.

Hyperscalers, which include Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, are driving the proliferation of electricity-guzzling data centers to expand their AI and cloud computing technologies.

At the same time, the companies are holding onto pledges to slash global warming emissions from their centers by 2030.

It’s not all finger wagging here, though, as there are some examples of companies that are looking at solutions to this problem.

Just this week, Microsoft announced the introduction of a new supplier decarbonization team focused on addressing this exact issue, according to a report by ESG Today.

The tech firm recently reported that Scope 3 emissions in 2023 were more than 30% higher than in 2020, largely driven by significant growth in data centers to meet increasing demand for AI computing power.

“Products and services related to energy management and efficiency are playing an increasingly important role, in particular with the unprecedented growth of energy-hungry digital technologies, notably artificial intelligence and data centers,” said Lily Dai, senior research lead for sustainable investment research at LSEG.

The build-out of the giant computer warehouses will increase investments in clean power development; energy efficient equipment and so-called green building materials, Morgan Stanley said.

Carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) technology and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) processes are also expected to get a boost as tech companies try to keep their climate promises, the report said.

Scroll down for more on how climate-change is heating up our summers, creating more extreme weather events and damaging economies.

The world is emerging from its warmest northern hemisphere summer since records began, the European Union’s climate change monitoring service said, as global warming continues to intensify.

The planet’s changed climate continued to fuel disasters this summer from Typhoon Gaemi, which tore through the Philippines, Taiwan and China, to Sudan’s heavy rains and the severe ongoing drought on the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia.

A drone view shows sandbanks due to the worst in history drought affecting the Madeira River in Humaita, Amazonas state, Brazil. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

Brazilians living near the Madeira River, a major waterway that runs through the Amazon rainforest, have been watching its water levels drop to historic lows this year as the area is reeling from a drought. The country’s geological service, SGB, has warned that all rivers in the Amazon basin are expected to drop below their historical levels.

Elsewhere, firefighters succeeded in reducing the extent of a massive wildfire that blazed for two days and destroyed 20% of a forest in the Brazilian capital, cloaking the city in clouds of gray-white smoke, according to officials, who suspect that it may have been started by arsonists.

The impact of global warming is costing African nations up to 5% of their economic output, the United Nations climate chief said on Thursday, calling for more investments to help adapt to climate change.

The 54-nation continent, which has borne the brunt of climate change despite releasing far fewer polluting emissions than the industrialized world, receives just 1% of annual global climate finance.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo urged developed nations to invest in energy transition and climate solutions in the country, flaunting its huge potential for renewable energy projects and carbon mitigation.

An oil spill off the Spanish island of Gran Canaria forced local authorities to close several beaches in the popular holiday destination and declare an environmental emergency.

After a winter of hardly any snow, a summer of punishing heatwaves and months of little rain and drought across much of Greece, Lake Mornos, which supplies water for nearly half the Greek population, has dwindled to its lowest level in decades. Click here for the full video.

The European Union has coordinated a record number of emergency responses to extreme weather this year, as climate change fuels wildfires and other disasters in Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent.

Europe’s fire season typically peaks in June to September, but climate change increases hot and dry conditions that have contributed to the fire season starting earlier and burning more land.

The West Coast of the United States is bracing for extreme heat with temperatures in desert towns expected to soar as high as 120 Fahrenheit (49 Celsius) and Phoenix likely to extend its streak of 100 days over 100 degrees, forecasters said.

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