The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving up energy demand, jeopardizing the US's efforts to meet its climate targets. The combination of AI-powered data centers and slower progress in renewable energy development has prompted experts to revise their emission reduction projections downward.
Jennifer Granholm on the America's Energy Future panel during The Atlantic Festival 2024 this month. The US energy secretary believes the country could still meet its net zero targets and handle the explosion in power demand. Photograph: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for The AtlanticPower-hungry artificial intelligence is consuming increasingly vast amounts of energy from the creaking US grid and threatening national efforts to tackle climate change , according to the latest expert forecasts.
The latest assessment puts the US trajectory even further from its national target to cut its emissions by 50-52 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, under its pledge to the Paris agreement. China is set for an unparalleled $800bn in spending the next six years to overcome strains on the energy system as it makes a rapid shift from coal power to renewable sources.
“We have to be aggressive, but the momentum has begun, and it is not slowing down,” Granholm told the Financial Times. Last week, Constellation Energy and Microsoft signed a 20-year deal to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the country’s most serious nuclear accident.
“We are not a gas company ... We do not have a dog in the hunt of trying to keep gas around,” Pizarro said. “We, the industry, need to make sure that we have a system that’s reliable, resilient, given more weather extremes, as affordable as possible.”
Environment Aiairtificial Intelligence Climate Change Energy Consumption Renewables Emissions Reduction
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