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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Power hungry: How AI fuels data centre energy demand and calls for more sustainability
16/10/2024
10 min read
Feature
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the game for data centres across the globe. However, adoption of AI is not simply about handling complex tasks faster but consumes far more power and creates a surge in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Tech giants are under pressure to make their vast data centres more energy efficient and sustainable in concert with rapid AI growth. New Energy World Features Editor Brian Davis reports.
At the start of the year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that global electricity demand is expected to more than double from 2022 to 2026, with AI (and cryptocurrency) playing a significant part in that rise – given global electricity consumption of 460 TWh.
The IEA forecasts that electricity consumption by data centres in the European Union (EU) will be 30% higher than 2023 levels (about 100 TWh), as new data facilities are commissioned in line with increased digitalisation and AI in particular. Ireland and Denmark alone make up 20% of the expected increase in EU data centre demand to 2026. And there are moves by the European Commission towards regulating data centre sustainability across the EU. Specific action is underway in some regions, such as the ad hoc moratorium on building new data centres in Dublin.
There are currently over 8,000 data centres globally, with about 33% located in the US, 16% in Europe and about 10% in China. Some 1,240 data centres were located in Europe (as of 2022), mostly concentrated in major financial centres including London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin. With significant additional data centres planned, electricity consumption in the EU is expected to reach 150 TWh by 2026.