- New AI data centers in the US could produce more emissions than an entire nation
- 11 locations have the potential to emit 129 million tonnes of greenhouse gases per year
- The future sustainability of AI is still unclear
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A report has found that new AI data centers in the US could have the ability to produce more greenhouse gases than an entire nation, putting the technology under further scrutiny and raising more questions about how sustainable it is.
A study by Wired has revealed that 11 gas-powered AI data centers could generate more greenhouse gases than all of Morocco by 2024, with potential emissions of 129 million tons per year from the sites.
And it’s not just one AI company linked to these new data center campuses, with OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft and xAI all mentioned in the report.
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Wired notes that the projects have either been announced or are already under construction as AI companies seek to circumvent restrictions on the US power grid by building their own gas-fired power plants solely for the purpose of powering the data centers.
This level of emissions may play a role in the ongoing battle with climate change. The construction of gas-powered stations can affect local communities, and the actions can make AI users question whether this is a technology they want to support.
Analysis: AI can be great, but at what cost?
There’s no doubt that AI can do some impressive things, like solve a 12-year-old math problem, but it also has its fair share of critics. From hallucinatory results and a perceived lack of quality in some circumstances to well-documented sustainability and climate issues.
The Wired study highlights that a natural gas project from which Microsoft is seeking to purchase power “could emit more than 11.5 million tons of greenhouse gases each year”. That’s more than Jamaica’s annual emissions.
Meanwhile, xAI’s (the company behind Grok) gas turbines in Memphis, Tennessee and Southaven, Mississippi can each emit 6.4 million tons of CO2 equivalents per year.
The list goes on, as AI data center projects in Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, Wisconsin and more, for the likes of OpenAI and Meta, are detailed in the full report.
It is worth noting that the emissions data are from models of power plants that are constantly running at full capacity, which does not happen in reality. Emissions may be two-thirds less than what the models suggest, but it would still be a significant production of greenhouse gases.
There’s no guarantee that all of the gas-powered stations mentioned in the study will be built, but as demand for AI processing remains strong, tech companies will likely look to follow suit.
Hope remains, however, as some believe that artificial intelligence can be a catalyst for sustainability, but for now the path to cleaner artificial intelligence is far from set in stone.
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