A few years ago, at the height of the hype around Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, there was a lot of concern about their environmental costs. In particular, the focus was on Bitcoin. As of 2022, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) estimates that Bitcoin consumes 131 TW⋅h (470 PJ) annually, representing 0.29% of global energy production and 0.59% of global electricity production, ranking Bitcoin mining between Ukraine and Egypt in terms of electricity consumption. Why is this? Primarily due to the Bitcoin mining process: in 2022, it was estimated that this activity accounted for 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Another environmental effect is air pollution caused by coal-generated electricity, and a third is electronic waste due to the short lifespan of Bitcoin mining equipment.
Today, with the accelerated use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), similar questions are starting to arise about its impact on the environment. However, we must not forget that AI also has the potential to aid in the fight against climate change.
Let’s hear a quote from Gerd Leonhard, a prominent futurist and speaker, who discusses all of this. Listen closely:
“I believe this is where we are all headed. I think we are moving toward a world where this is quite obvious. The transition is painful, but the sustainable economy not only costs money; it also generates money. That is the good news. Yes, it is expensive to undergo this transition, but this graph here from BlackRock, one of the largest investors in the world, shows that the green line represents spending on infrastructure, the reduction of climate damage, and the costs of the transition. In the end, we end up with more, not less. This is good news, and it’s also something new that we can see this way. The World Economic Forum graph shows one trillion dollars in new revenues, and they say there will be 395 million new jobs in 20 years. That may be a bit optimistic; I’m not sure there will be 395 billion new jobs, but there will be many new jobs. We are changing our way of thinking and our world, moving from extraction and exploitation stemming from oil and gas to Facebook, which essentially extracts information from you, to the world of creation. And that is the path for Europe, for our future. We can be global leaders in sustainability and also in protecting humans from extraction, as we see with the Digital Markets Act and others. What is evolving is that being sustainable is the new profitable.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often presented in binary terms, both in popular culture and in political analysis. It is seen as the key to a futuristic utopia defined by the integration of human intelligence and technological prowess, or as the first step toward a dystopian rise of machines. This same binary thinking is adopted by academics, entrepreneurs, and even activists regarding the application of AI in combating climate change. The singular focus of the tech industry on AI as a catalyst for a new technological utopia obscures the ways in which AI can exacerbate environmental degradation, often in ways that directly harm marginalized populations. To harness AI in the fight against climate change in a way that embraces its technological promise while recognizing its heavy energy consumption, the companies leading AI development need to explore solutions for the environmental impacts of the technology.
AI can be a powerful tool in combating climate change. Autonomous vehicles equipped with AI, for example, could reduce emissions by 50% by 2050 by identifying more efficient routes. Applying AI in agriculture leads to higher yields; peanut farmers in India achieved a 30% increase in their harvests using this technology. Additionally, AI can provide faster and more accurate analyses of satellite images, identifying areas affected by disasters that need assistance or by deforestation. AI-driven data analysis can also help predict dangerous climate patterns and enhance accountability by accurately monitoring whether governments and companies are meeting their emissions targets.
However, AI and the broader internet and communications industry have faced criticism for their excessive energy consumption, similar to the problems faced by Bitcoin. Data processing, for example, requires supercomputers that use the public electricity grid and are supported by diesel generators as backups. Training a single AI system can emit over 250,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. In fact, the use of AI technology across various sectors produces CO2 emissions comparable to those of the aviation industry. These additional emissions disproportionately impact historically marginalized communities, which often live in highly polluted areas and are more directly affected by health risks related to pollution.
Recently, scientists and AI engineers have responded to these criticisms by considering new energy sources to power data farms. However, even seemingly more sustainable energy sources, such as rechargeable batteries, can exacerbate climate change and harm communities. Most rechargeable batteries are made from lithium, a rare earth metal whose extraction has negative effects on communities. Lithium extraction, driven by the growing demand for cleaner energy sources, requires enormous amounts of water—around 500,000 gallons for every ton of lithium extracted. In Chile, the second-largest lithium producer in the world, indigenous communities, such as the Copiapó people in the north, often clash with mining companies over land and water rights. Mining activities consume 65% of the water in the Salar de Atacama region, permanently damaging wetlands and water sources, threatening native species, and impacting local populations. Depicting lithium as “clean” energy simply because it is less disastrous for the environment than diesel or coal is a false dichotomy that discourages stakeholders from pursuing newer, greener energy sources.
The development of AI technology is a symbol of incredible progress; however, this progress is not one-size-fits-all, and the companies developing these technologies have a responsibility to ensure that marginalized communities do not bear the brunt of the negative side effects of the AI revolution.
Some data farms have transitioned to operate entirely on clean energy. Data centers in Iceland, for example, largely run on clean energy powered by the island’s hydroelectric and geothermal resources, making it a popular location for new data centers. These centers do not need to be cooled by energy-intensive fans or air conditioning, as Iceland’s cold climate is sufficient. However, Iceland is particularly suited to host data processing centers, and most countries cannot replicate these unique environmental conditions.
Large data companies can avoid the pitfalls of lithium batteries by using physical batteries. These batteries, made of concrete, store gravitational potential energy in elevated concrete blocks that can be harnessed at any moment. This is not a distant idea: in a Swiss valley, two 35-ton concrete blocks are suspended by a 246-foot tower. Together, they store enough energy to power two thousand homes (two megawatts). Physical batteries represent a potential alternative to lithium batteries, with a lower environmental cost and benefits for marginalized communities, and can be built with commonly available materials like concrete.
The U.S. government, through the Department of Energy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has invested billions of dollars in improving lithium batteries, particularly in creating solid-state lithium-ion batteries that could offer better safety, energy density, and lifespan compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Some private companies, such as Google, have committed to expanding the use of lithium-ion technology in their facilities, implementing a pilot program to replace diesel generators in some data centers with lithium-ion batteries. However, these investments are not enough, especially at a time when electric vehicle manufacturers and the U.S. government are making multi-billion dollar investments in new types of batteries. Tech companies need to do more to help address the energy use and storage issues presented by AI.
AI offers a range of advantages for tackling the current climate crisis, but its potential environmental side effects cannot be ignored. Tech companies, often praised for their creativity and ingenuity, need to apply those skills to solve the challenges associated with artificial intelligence.
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