Data centres will use twice as much energy by 2030 — driven by AI
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01113-z?utm_source=x&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nature&linkId=13909569
Data centres will use twice as much energy by 2030 — driven by AI
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01113-z?utm_source=x&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nature&linkId=13909569
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The electricity consumption of data centres is projected to more than double by 2030, according to a report from the International Energy Agency published today. The primary culprit? Artificial Intelligence (AI).
IEA’s models project that data centres will use 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030, roughly equivalent to the current annual electricity consumption of Japan.
By comparison, data centres consumed 415 TWh in 2024, roughly 1.5% of the world’s total electricity consumption (see ‘Global electricity growth’).
But, hey, don’t anybody build more nuclear power plants or anything like that, right? 🙄
This wouldn’t be such a big problem if they get all of their electricity from zero carbon sources. Unfortunately that probably won’t happen.
So if the anticipated explosion where it’s in everything happens, and the energy efficiency savings that new computational tasks usually experience when they become mainstream doesn’t happen, ai will be less than 2% ?
I can’t remember any other field of technology where people freaked out over that.
Do you think maybe the environemtal concerns are proxy for some other agenda?
As far as energy consumption, there’s always the N word or the R word. If we can somehow manage to ignore the fossil funded propaganda which makes those about as controvesial as the other N word and R word.